Are There Sharks Here?

MOT Shark AttackDo you get sharks on the Costa Tropical? Yup, everything from 60cm-long ones (nibblers), to 10m-long sharks; i.e., basking sharks that feed on plankton.

Now, sharks are important in the food chain, because they keep smaller predators in order and stop them wiping out the smaller fish that end up on our plates. Fancy a ration of boquerones? Then thank your local sharks… the ones in the sea, that is.

The most common type of shark around here is the tintorera (blue shark), which are normally well out to sea but sometimes come in to scare the shit out of humans as a prank.

Are you likely to get attacked by one? Well, between 1580 and 2013, the blue shark was responsible for only 13 biting incidents around the world, four of which ended fatally. However, they have been known to mug bathers for their smart phones and handbags…

Most of the sharks off The Costa Tropical are deep-sea sharks, such as the Angular Roughshark and the Sharpnose Sevengill shark. There have even been rare cases of Shortfin-Mako Shark sightings, and those buggers really move – up to 68kph over short distances.

But our local sharks – again, not the land-based ones – don’t usually attack humans and if they do, it is because they feel threatened in poor visibility conditions or there is fishing going on.

So, unless you plan swimming around fishing boats out to sea at night, then you should be OK.

(News: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

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