Jaws Had a Toothache
On Tuesday, a ten year-old British boy on the beach in Benidorm saw a strange silver and green fish swimming near him and tried to touch it. The fish, trying to placidly swim amidst strangers, decided he'd had enough and bit him. The boy surely ran howling from the water after the bite and the beach was temporarily closed while authorities searched for the fish. Up to here, fine. There are always species out there that resent man's intrusion on their beaches. But from there it just happened to blow out of proportion.
The British newspaper, The Daily Star, ran the story on its front page with a photo of a great white shark and the headline, "Jaws Attack Off Benidorm". Immediately the story was plastered everywhere. A shark attack on a populated beach in the Mediterranean! No beach is safe anywhere! The truth was the boy was given first aid treatment for the small, circular bite just above his waist at the beach and that was that. The fish wasn't found and the shark even less. A couple of days later, a Spanish news program went around interviewing British citizens on the beach, showing them a copy of The Daily Star. They were all surprised. They hadn't seen anything strange, not even the usual jelly fish that are the plague of beaches in the Mediterranean. It turned out the "shark" was more likely a barracuda.
There are great white sharks out there, but they haven't been seen close to shore for over twenty years. And since 1847 there have only been three recorded attacks by sharks. The most common species of shark that comes in close to the beaches is the tintorera, which doesn't usually attack anyone. Actually, they're fished for food. Sharks aren't really the biggest marine problem on the beaches. All along the Mediterranean there have been years when beaches have been closed because of mounds of jellyfish that have come into shore. Stepping on sea urchins along rocky shores can be painful, too. It's not just the needles. They can inject a poison which can lead to partial temporary paralysis of the foot. Another little critter, pez araña (weever fish) lurks buried in sandy or muddy shores. The spines along its back can cause a limb to painfully swell for up to a week. In extreme cases, its venom can cause death due to complications. One of the biggest problems along our coast in Galicia are fanecas bravas, a flat fish that buries itself in the sand where it can be stepped on at low tide. It's painful, though not dangerous.
So, if you're on one of our beaches and see a suspicious fin on the horizon, don't worry. It's probably a joker. The real sharks are on shore, and they're out for your money, not your meat.
The British newspaper, The Daily Star, ran the story on its front page with a photo of a great white shark and the headline, "Jaws Attack Off Benidorm". Immediately the story was plastered everywhere. A shark attack on a populated beach in the Mediterranean! No beach is safe anywhere! The truth was the boy was given first aid treatment for the small, circular bite just above his waist at the beach and that was that. The fish wasn't found and the shark even less. A couple of days later, a Spanish news program went around interviewing British citizens on the beach, showing them a copy of The Daily Star. They were all surprised. They hadn't seen anything strange, not even the usual jelly fish that are the plague of beaches in the Mediterranean. It turned out the "shark" was more likely a barracuda.
There are great white sharks out there, but they haven't been seen close to shore for over twenty years. And since 1847 there have only been three recorded attacks by sharks. The most common species of shark that comes in close to the beaches is the tintorera, which doesn't usually attack anyone. Actually, they're fished for food. Sharks aren't really the biggest marine problem on the beaches. All along the Mediterranean there have been years when beaches have been closed because of mounds of jellyfish that have come into shore. Stepping on sea urchins along rocky shores can be painful, too. It's not just the needles. They can inject a poison which can lead to partial temporary paralysis of the foot. Another little critter, pez araña (weever fish) lurks buried in sandy or muddy shores. The spines along its back can cause a limb to painfully swell for up to a week. In extreme cases, its venom can cause death due to complications. One of the biggest problems along our coast in Galicia are fanecas bravas, a flat fish that buries itself in the sand where it can be stepped on at low tide. It's painful, though not dangerous.
So, if you're on one of our beaches and see a suspicious fin on the horizon, don't worry. It's probably a joker. The real sharks are on shore, and they're out for your money, not your meat.
Always the press with their fish tales. :-)
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