A SHARK was spotted swimming off the coast of a beach near Southampton.

The 5ft long animal was seen feeding in the shallows off Southbourne beach, near Bournemouth, by qualified PADI scuba diver Jonathan Brennan who has swam with sharks all over the world.

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He confidently identified the shark as a porbeagle after ruling out it being a tope or a basking shark, both commonly seen in south coast waters.

Jonathan said: “He said: "It was lovely to see such a beautiful creature so close in and is a sign of a healthy ecosystem

"I thought it was a seal at first and waded into the water to get a closer look.

"It wasn't a tope shark; they tend to dive deeper and are much faster. This kept popping up every couple of minutes whereas a tope wouldn't keep coming to the surface.

"It wasn't a basking shark either as their fins are floppier and wobble from side to side when moving through the water.

"I have seen a couple of thresher sharks before and it wasn't one of those.

"It has a rounded fin which was dark greyish brown colouration with a rounded apex and there appeared to be a lower edge white patch.

"It was fairly large. You can see the fin and tail fin in the video and it was about 5ft long. It was a porbeagle.”

Stock image of a porbeagle sharkStock image of a porbeagle shark (Image: NQ)

Porbeagles are usually seen miles out sea by fishermen and have little interaction with humans.

It is highly unusual for one to come so close in and it is likely it was following a rich food source.

They usually feed on squid and other cephalopods and one theory is that it could have been lured by the recent mass influx of Mediterranean octopus of the south west coast.

Jonathan added: "It was there for 25 minutes and it wasn't in a hurry. It must have been having a good feed.

"Porbeagles can be attracted by a school of mackerel or squid.

"Observe them from a distance and don't interfere with what they are doing. They are more interested in the fish."

Along with blue sharks, porbeagles are the most common species of shark found in British waters.