British Family 'Terrified' After Being Circled by a Shark on a Spanish Beach from surround photo gp Watch Video

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✓ Published: 11-May-2024

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A British family was left 'terrified' after being circled by a shark just off a beach at a popular holiday resort in Spain.<br/><br/>Holidaymaker Jessica Kenny, 27, was paddling in the sea at Playa Arenal d'en Castell, Menorca, with her four-year-old son when she spotted a shark that came 'zig-zagging' toward them. <br/><br/>She quickly realized it was following her dad, Darren, 57, who was swimming ahead toward some buoys, on Monday.<br/><br/>Passers-by began screaming and calling for the lifeguard - who dialed for backup and put the red flags out.<br/><br/>Children were hurriedly evacuated from the sea, but others were allowed to come close enough to video the shark.<br/><br/>Jessica, a GP receptionist from Liverpool, said: 'I was only up to my waist with my little boy - while my dad had swam ahead.<br/><br/>'We were laughing and joking because it was cold.<br/><br/>'Then we saw a weird thing sticking out the water - we were joking around, saying it must be a shark.<br/><br/>'But we didn't believe it.<br/><br/>'It was quite strange, zig-zagging around us.<br/><br/>'As it came closer, we realized the thing sticking out of the water was a fin.<br/><br/>'We were like, 'Oh my god - that's a shark'.'<br/><br/>The mum-of-two ran out of the water with her son - while others on the beach laughed.<br/><br/>But Jessica realized the shark - believed to be a blue shark - was heading towards Darren, who'd started swimming back to the beach.<br/><br/>She said: 'We'd lost sight of it after we turned around.<br/><br/>'But we saw it was following my dad back to the beach. It was circling him - but it wasn't going for him if that makes sense.<br/><br/>'Honestly, it was so scary, but my dad loves everything to do with the sea.<br/><br/>'When we were back on the beach, he was so excited.'<br/><br/>Jessica and Darren tried to calm her son down - who was 'a bit upset and worried' after the ordeal.<br/><br/>'My dad told him how lucky he was to have seen a shark at four years old,' she added. 'In all his 57 years, he'd never seen one.<br/><br/>'They decided to name it Freddie.'<br/><br/>The family left the beach at 4:35 pm, an hour after the shark was first spotted - and the lifeguards were still trying to chase it out.<br/><br/>Darren, a lorry driver, said: 'It was such a surreal experience.<br/><br/>'I've always wanted to see a shark - even going snorkeling in Jamaica and Cuba just so I could spot one.<br/><br/>'I can't believe I swam with one in Menorca, with my daughter and grandson.'<br/><br/>The shark sighting is believed to be the first so far this year near a Costa beach.<br/><br/>A shark was spotted on the same beach in June 2018 when swimmers were also banned from entering the water for the entire afternoon. <br/>