On Aug. 2, tourists at a popular beach in Majorca, Spain, were met with an unexpected surprise after a 10-foot blue shark decided to swim near the shore, Fox News reported.
Lifeguards at Cala Domingos beach took footage of the shark as onlookers panicked and watched from nearby rocks.
Police evacuated the water at a 3 p.m., according to Sky News.
Yup, that’s a shark! Never seen a beach clear so quickly! #illetes #illetesbeach #shark #jaws pic.twitter.com/qUjfPQS1Bc
— Tim Prottey-Jones (@TimProtteyJones) June 24, 2017
The shark had been in distress when it swam toward the shore, officials said.
Guillem Felix, told The Telegraph that the recovery center was first notified of the shark at 3 p.m.
“We got a second call an hour later to say it had ended up writhing on the sand and the lifeguards had put it back in the water but had subsequently returned to the shoreline,” Felix told The Telegraph.
The shark appeared disorientated when it was retrieved by the Palma Aquarium’s Recovery Center.
Autopsy reports later revealed that the shark had been injured by a stingray with one of its barbs still stuck in its snout.
According to Fox News, the damage from the barb resulted in nerve damage, which made it hard for the shark to hunt and seek food, thereby causing it to become disoriented.
According to The Telegraph, the same type of blue shark caused similar panic on the other side of the island in 2017. Officials also closed the beach temporarily at that time.
