Costa Brava Beach Closed After Sighting Of Two Sharks

Sa Riera de Begur beach in the Baix Empordà region of the Costa Brava was closed on Wednesday evening, July 26, after two sharks were sighted in the water.

In a tweet, Civil Protection sources explained that the red flag was raised and remained in place until 11 am this morning, Thursday 27.

Around 8 pm last night, the alarm was raised after several bathers claimed to have spotted the telltale fins in the sea. Red Cross lifeguards on duty at the Catalonian resort’s beach quickly evacuated everybody from the water and raised the red warning flag.

The red flag was displayed as a precaution

Although the lifeguards reported not seeing anything, they kept the flag in place as a precaution. A second inspection of the waters was carried by the lifeguards this morning before the Girona beach was opened to the public once again.

According to 20minutos, witnesses to the incident confirmed that the situation did not generate any unnecessary alarm. Once the bathers realised what the commotion was all about, there was calm they explained.

It is believed that two blue sharks were the culprits, said to have been around two metres in length.

Two sharks were spotted at a beach in Alt Empordà last Monday

Earlier on Monday 24, the Platja Gran del Port de la Selva in the Alt Empordà area was closed for around 30 minutes due to the sighting of two sharks.

A little while later, a surfer reported seeing them again in the area of ​​the Sarnella lighthouse. Another pair of sharks were sighted one week earlier in the Portbou region of the Costa Brava coastline.

It must be noted that nobody was attacked or in any way affected by these sightings. These species are not uncommon along the Spanish coast. They are characterised by their elongated body with a long, conical snout.

Historically, blue sharks – also known as great blue sharks – have rarely been known to bite humans. According to sharksinfo.com,  in the last 400 years, the blue shark was implicated in only 13 biting incidents. Blue Sharks are pelagic, meaning that they prefer the open ocean to the coastlines.