A swimmer was spotted swimming within inches of a huge shark in nail-biting footage video filmed off the coast of Malaga.
He appeared to have no qualms about getting within inches of the animal as it glided past him in the water with its tell-tale fin showing.
The video shows the man bobbing about in the water close to the shark as it swims within a few inches of him.
The shark then swims past him, prompting him to dip below the water to get a better look before it swims off.
Experts have estimated the latest shark to appear off the Spanish coastline was around 20ft.
The footage of it swimming in Malaga bay was taken from a boat the swimmer is thought to have jumped from so he could get up close to the animal.
The sighting yesterday was the third in less than of a month of a plankton-eating basking shark in Spain’s southern waters.
They are described as harmless to humans, although police warned kayakers and other sports enthusiasts not to approach when another shark of the same sort described as being more than 26ft long was spotted last weekend off La Mamola Beach on the Costa Tropical further east.
Its presence in the area has been linked to a large amount of plankton.
On Sunday a member of Spain’s Paralympic swimming team was filmed out-sprinting two sharks after a terrifying encounter off Sant Pol beach on the Costa Brava north of Barcelona.
Ariel Schrenck went up a gear after hearing his mum shouting from the shoreline when she spotted two tell-tale fins and saw the animals heading in his direction.
Ariel, part of the Spanish team that took part in last year’s World Para Swimming Allianz Championships in London, was training at the time.
The sharks the 19-year-old out-swam are thought to be tintoreras or blue sharks, which have been blamed in the past for attacks on holidaymakers, including one in Elche near Alicante in July 2016 when a 40-year-old man was bitten on the hand.
Before last Saturday’s sighing of another basking shark off La Mamola Beach, a smaller basking shark had been spotted at the start of May off the nearby resort of Calahonda on the Costa Tropical. That one was much smaller at around 10 feet.
