It has lots of teeth, bites its victims so they bleed to death, and has never previously dropped into the choppy sea near Padstow. But yesterday it emerged that a great white shark - the brutish-looking beast made infamous by the film Jaws - had been sighted for the first time in British waters by a group of fishermen off the Cornish coast. The 16-feet long shark, known as the super-predator of the sea, came within six feet of the fishermen's boat and stuck its head out of the water before swimming off.
The fish is extremely rare, but world expert Ian Ferguson of Welwyn in Hertfordshire said the eye-witness descriptions by the fishermen were "pretty compelling". But the chances of a holidaymaker in Cornwall being eaten by a great white, he added, were much lower than of "someone being killed by a lunatic on jet-ski".
In the Mediterranean, the nearest place where the great white is known to live, one person gets eaten every two years on average.
Shark boat skipper Phil Britts said of the experience: "It was very spooky. None of the sea birds would settle on the water so we had a feeling there was a big fish around, but no-one realised just how big.
"I reckon it had been following us for a couple of miles. Suddenly this huge shape broke the surface - just like in the Jaws films - and cruised past us within six feet of the stern. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I know what it was I saw . . . but I still can't believe it."
Crewman Mike Turner, who worked as a commercial fisherman in South Africa where great whites are known to live, said: "I'm 95 per cent certain it was a great white. I'd put it at between 1,000 and 1,500 lbs. I've been expecting to see one in British waters for a while now because there have been sightings in the Med and these sharks do migrate long distances. I wouldn't be surprised if one day someone on a surfboard got gobbled up by one."
Mr Colin Speedie from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust said: "We have seen a lot of warm water species this year including lots of sunfish, leathery turtles, trigger fish and the seven gill shark, none of which normally occur round here. There is no reason to believe the great white has not been attracted here too. There is lots for it to eat.
"It aims to kill its prey with a single bite and attacks from below after stalking its intended victim. It might well have been watching these fishermen for some time.
"They can take seals and sea-lions, and surfboarders look a bit like a seal from below, that's probably why they are attacked."