New Quay beach temporarily closed after shark alert
Holidaymakers were advised not to swim in the sea near a beach after a shark was spotted by RNLI lifeguards.
Red flags were raised on New Quay in Ceredigion at 17:25 BST on Tuesday, after the creature, believed to be a blue shark, was spotted in shallow waters yards from the beach.
The beach reopened on Wednesday. The RNLI said it was extremely unusual to see a shark so close to the shoreline.
It swam between boats moored at the end of the beach behind the breakwater.
"I first saw a big shadow of a shark and then it came up a bit and was swimming around," said Jasmine Jones, who spotted it from her boat.
"It was only a few metres from the sand and it was in really shallow water about half a metre deep.
"It was a bright blue in colour with really round eyes, not beady - they were huge," she added.
The creatures feed on other fish, such as mackerel, herring and squid.
In 2005, a Welsh record was set 25 miles off the coast of Milford Haven, when a fisherman measured a blue shark at 271cm.