‘Great white shark’ off UK beach terrifies children - after prankster puts fake fin in water

The fake fin was placed in the water approximately 300 yards off the coast of Torquay, Devon

A “great white shark” fin spotted off the coast of a UK beach has terrified local children.

But it turns out the fin was fake, placed in the water by an anonymous prankster.

It had been crafted out of insulation foam, painted dark grey and had a wooden stick attached to weigh it down and keep it still. It was placed in the sea approximately 300 yards from the coast of Torquay.

The fake fin had been crafted out of insulation foam and painted dark grey (RobHughes/DevonSeaSafari/BNPS)

A teacher was the first to notice the fin as she led a group of children on a trip with Devon Sea Safari.

Rob Hughes, who was captaining the boat on the safari trip, inspected the “fin’’ with a pair of binoculars. Steering closer, he realised that it was a fake.

The culprit later admitted their prank in an anonymous post on Facebook, claiming that the fin was intended for a “personal video”,

“I’ve had fun and got the community talking. I just want to reassure everyone that you have nothing to fear in the sea. The recent shark was supposed to be for a personal video I didn’t expect anyone to notice”, the Facebook post read.

Mr Hughes said he wasn’t “fooled for long” by the fin in a Facebook post from his Devon Sea Safari company.

He wrote: “I wasn’t fooled for long. Lack of movement and no tail fin made me investigate further.

“Someone has gone to great lengths to create a hoax great white shark fin. I can’t say I’m very impressed.”

He remarked that “pranks” like this can hurt the local economy during the summer months.

Juvenile great white sharks choose certain areas of the sea as "training grounds" where they can fine-tune their hunting skills (PA)

“Pranks like this can have a very real effect on summer coastal business. Not to mention that it is basically deliberate marine littering.

“Whatever the reasons behind this stunt, rest assured there has never been any evidence of great whites in South Devon.”

The Shark Trust reports that there have been over 100 claimed sightings of great white sharks in the UK over the last 10 years, but none of these have been confirmed.

However, research published this week determined that great whites could soon begin to appear off the coast of the UK as they migrate north from the Mediterranean in search of seals.

Founder of Ocearch, Chris Fischer, noted that populations of great whites previously tracked by his organisation have tended to move north in search of food.

“We believe they should be moving up past Brest [in Brittany] and Cornwall,” he told The Times.

Great white sharks are the largest predatory fish on earth and typically found mostly in cool waters close to the coast. They are often sighted near South Africa, other parts of Africa, California and New Zealand.