HOLIDAYMAKERS have been left baffled after a small species of shark was spotted on a Lyme Regis beach.

Both tourists and residents crowded round main beach, close to the town’s millennium clock, to catch a glimpse of the shark yesterday evening, Wednesday September 24.

The shark, identified as a Smoothhound shark by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union of Conservation for Nature and can reach a maximum age of 24 years.

Watch a video of the shark swimming in the shallow waters here:

The smoothhound shark species look similar to the starry smoothhound, spiny dogfish, tope and blue shark.

The small shark could be clearly seen from approximately 4pm yesterday, and at one stage came up onto the sand and pebbles.

Some members of the public were worried about its safety while others thought it may be spawning or looking for food close to the rocks at main beach.

Ra Zamora from Somerset, who visits Lyme quite often, said she was surprised to see the shark so close to the shoreline.

She said: “I think it’s spawning and got some great photos earlier after managing to get really close to it. It’s really quite unusual and has attracted a lot of attention.

“One person with a kayak attempted to move the shark to deeper waters earlier in the evening but soon after that it had returned just inches away from the shoreline.”

Another holidaymaker, Zack Harling, was visiting Lyme Regis from the USA and said he’d ‘never seen anything like it’ in the wild.

He added: “I wonder what it’s doing here; it looks like it’s really searching for something.”

A Dorset Wildlife Trust spokesperson said smoothhound sharks can often be found in shallow waters.

The spokesperson added: “Although they are quite big, they are not at all dangerous to humans and are something to savour, not to fear.

“We might be seeing more of them, and other larger marine life such as dolphins following the mackerel and whitebait that are inshore at the moment following the abundance of plankton after a warm summer.

“People can find out more information about our marine life and the fish that should and shouldn’t be eaten if they have conservation concerns by visiting dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/FishAdviser.”