Great white sharks may start appearing off the UK coast as the migrate from the Mediterranean, research has said.
Chris Fischer, founder of Ocearch, said he has tracked the sea creatures moving northwards in search of seals to eat.
He told The Times: ‘We believe they should be moving up past Brest in Brittany and Cornwall.’
The organisation, which collects ocean data, plans to come to Britain next summerin order to find the sharks.
The sharks have also increasingly been seen in Cape Cod, US, next to the island where the fil Jaws was shot.
They were virtually non-existent there prior to the 1970s.
Scientists believe they have been drawn there by a large number of seals, whose numbers have also increased due to protections designed to protect them.
But one expert now believes the UK will see a similar boost.
But Gregory Skomal, a marine biologist, whose new memoir Chasing Shadows traces the animal’s revival along the US easten seaboard, said he would be ‘surpised’ if any were found.
He said: ‘There’s no documented white sharks off Cornwall. They should be there but they are not and we don’t know why.’
The current number of great whites in the Mediterranean is both little known and low.
Great whites are the largest predatory fish on Earth.
They can be found throughout the world’s oceans, and are often spotted near South Africa, California and New Zealand.
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