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Shark sighting close to UK beach as dog ‘tries to warn swimmer’ after fin spotted

A bloke has told how his dog “could sense something in the water” just before he spotted a sinister “shark fin” cutting through the waves.

Billy Mole and his partner Meg O’Beirne had taken their dog Baloo to Littlecombe Shoot in Devon.

He explained that Meg was paddleboarding as he swam nearby.

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“The water was freezing,” he told DevonLive, “but I really love the refreshing feeling so didn’t let it put me off a quick swim while she was paddling around.

“Our dog Baloo usually swims alongside me too, although this time she wouldn’t come out as far as I was and kept circling back and standing on the shore whining.



The dark triangular fin appeared just where Billy and Meg had been swimming
The dark triangular fin appeared just where Billy and Meg had been swimming

“I did think that was unusual at the time and am now wondering if she could sense something in the water and was trying to lead us back in.”

Billy said that he was swimming for about 20 minutes before heading back to the beach to comfort a worried Baloo and try to encourage her to come out to swim again.

Again Baloo refused to go too deep into the water, so Billy decided he’d go it alone once more for a while longer. A short while after the couple both came out of the water to eat some lunch.



Shark
Billy isn’t sure what kind of shark he saw, but ‘doesn’t think it was dangerous’ (stock)

Billy said: “We were sat eating a sandwich and noticed something dark coloured in the water, it wasn’t bobbing up and down like something floating on top of the water and you could see it was something triangular shaped sticking out.

“We went down to the shoreline to get a closer look and could see it was a dorsal fin in the water, we were in complete disbelief as it was pretty much exactly where we had just been in the water”.



Baloo seemed to be warning them about the shark
Baloo seemed to be warning them about the shark

“It was an amazing thing to see,” Billy said, “and I didn’t really feel fear at the thought that it could have been in the water with us.

“I was in awe of it and even a week later can’t believe what we saw. It was only after staring at it in silence together for a while that I thought of taking some pictures and a video to show people.

“Shortly after this it disappeared but then popped up again further down the beach, the birds were following it around so it obviously had found some fish to eat over there.

“I don’t believe it is a dangerous species, it must have been nearby to us at the time we were swimming and decided not to come near and I don’t think it will put me off going for a swim any time soon.”

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