Fears are growing that a great white shark could be on the prowl at a popular British holiday beach after a mutilated porpoise washed up ashore.

The 5ft long dead animal appeared at Happisburgh, Norfolk, with tell-tale chunks of flesh torn from round its mouth.

The ripped flesh could have come from it fighting desperately to fend off a huge predator.

This porpoise washed up on a Norfolk beach prompting fears that it could have been attacked by a Great White shark

The 5ft long dead animal washed ashore at Happisburgh, Norfolk, with tell-tale chunks of flesh torn from round its mouth

There have been previous incidents where mutilated porpoises have washed up on British beaches with bite marks in their flesh, with experts at the time claiming such injuries were ‘almost certainly,’ caused by a shark.

A resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, and who lives near to the scene said: ‘We’ve heard about this latest porpoise being washed up at Happisburg and it’s not far from where the porpoises came ashore with what looked like bite marks in 2011, so of course people are worried there is something out there that’s doing it.

‘The experts said in 2011 that they thought it might be a great white shark or even a killer whale, so we’re all a bit nervous, specially with the holiday season coming up when the beaches will be packed.

‘Everyone’s praying they will examine the porpoise and say it’s not a shark attack – for the sake of the local tourist industry if nothing else.’

At first terrified beachcombers even thought it was a shark on the beach at Happisburgh, and panic-stricken messages were posted on social media.

The mutilated corpse was quickly identified as a harmless harbour porpoise, but now there are fears it died after being attacked by a great white lurking in shallow water along the coast, which has many holiday beaches.

It has raised fears that a great white, which grow to over 20ft, or even an orca killer whale, which can top 30ft, has set up home in the area, seeking the warmth of deeper water in the winter months and coming closer to the shore as temperatures soar in the spring sunshine.

The great white could even be making the area its permanent home – in 2011, two porpoises washed up on Winterton beach, near Great Yarmouth, with bite marks in their flesh.

Linzi Smith, 29, and fiancé Steve Hunt, 36, found one of the chewed-up porpoises and marine experts said at the time that the savage bite marks meant it almost certainly had been attacked and killed by a huge shark or killer whale.

Could a shark be prowling the waters off the Norfolk coast after a mutilated porpoise washed up?

The dead porpoise on the beach. In 2011 there were several sightings of mutilated porpoise on the UK coast

This is where the porpoise washed up on the beach at Happisburgh. Not far down the coast is the scene of the 2011 sightings of dead porpoises at Great Yarmouth

The couple made their gruesome find just days after walker Hollie Moran, 24, found another 5ft porpoise with chunks taken out of its head and tail on the beach two miles away at Horsey.

Chillingly, the 2011 victims were killed in April and the new find was this week – in the first few days of May – is the time when large predators traditionally start moving from the deep ocean to shallow coastal waters which become full of small ‘prey’ fish as the weather warms up.

When the two porpoises washed ashore in 2011, Dr Ken Collins of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton said they had ‘undoubtedly’ suffered shark bites. He added ‘It could be a great white. The sea around the UK is habitable for big sharks.’

Norfolk naturalist Percy Trett said he believed a killer whale was the more likely explanation.

Happisburgh beach, Norfolk. Experts believe sharks could be seeking the warmth of deeper water and coming closer to the shore as temperatures soar in the spring sunshine

‘Killer whales do occur off the Scottish coast and occasionally come down the North Sea. They will attack porpoises and seals,’ he warned.

The porpoise deaths followed a string of mystery deaths of seals which suffered ugly injuries off the Norfolk coast in 2010.

As news spread on social media about the latest dead porpoise washed ashore this week, many panic-stricken holidaymakers thought twice about going into the water.

Photos of the 5ft long porpoise, sporting rows of jagged teeth have been shared on social media.

This prompted residents near the beach at Happisburgh to rush out to look for the tell-tale fins of sharks cleaving the surface.

However Mike Price, assistant curator of fishes at SeaWorld San Diego, believes it is unlikely to be an attack from a great white.

Speaking to MailOnline Travel, he said: ‘It’s very hard to give an accurate diagnosis without seeing the specimen first-hand but, based on these images alone, I think it’s very unlikely that this porpoise was attacked by a great white shark.

‘It would be more likely to be another species of shark as if it was a great white I would expect the head to be removed from the body completely.

‘I would also guess that this particular porpoise was bitten when it was already dead – this particular species is very fast and agile in the water and it would be extremely difficult for a predator to cause this kind of damage when it was alive.’

Steve Ace was on holiday in Norway when he landed his monster catch. The giant halibut was sliced into 56 fillets worth £1,000 at the fish market however, Steve handed out the fillets to locals where the fish was landed.

He said: ‘Catching this fish was an absolute battle and exhausting’

By Ben Wilkinson for the Daily Mail

After a gruelling half hour struggle, it took two men to haul this enormous halibut to the shore and heave it on to the scales.

The 97lb giant flat fish was then sliced up into 56 fillets – worth £1,000 at the fish market – and given away to locals in the Norwegian town where it was reeled in.

The 5ft 6ins halibut is thought to be the second largest ever to be caught from the shore with the record standing at 112lbs.

Steve Ace, pictured with his monster catch, managed to land the halibut which was worth £1,000

It was landed by British angler Steve Ace, 51, towards the end of a 10-day fishing trip.

He said: ‘When she first broke the surface I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was an awesome sight, a monster halibut.’

STEVE ACE’S MONSTER CATCH

Steve Ace’s halibut is the second largest ever to be caught by an angler standing on the shore.

The record for a shore caught halibut stands at 111lb 15oz and was reeled in near Bodo, Norway, by Briton Simon Smith in 2014.

The largest halibut ever caught was a 513lb monster hauled onto a boat from deep seas off Norway in 2013.

Their native habitat is the Northern Atlantic, from Greenland to the Barents Sea and as far South as the Bay of Biscay.

It is thought they can reach up to 15ft in length and live for up to 50 years.

Their diet is usually other fish like cod, haddock and herring. They face predation from seals and the Greenland shark.

Mr Ace, who works in a fishing tackle shop in Bristol, was with friend Gary Withey near the Norwegian town of Bodo when his line was snagged by the 4ft wide fish.

He said when the beast caught his line it felt like he had caught a Ford Transit van.

He said: ‘Catching this thing was an absolute battle and was exhausting. When a fish that big takes your line you have to take your time otherwise it is gone, but it was intense. It was like hanging on to a Ford Transit.

‘It was a massive relief to pull it in. There was a lot of pressure on my rod, but even more on my bad back.

‘I’ve been euphoric ever since, it was the perfect end to a 10 day fishing bender.’

It took both men to lift the monster onto the scales where it weighed a mighty 96lb 8oz.

Mr Ace’s giant catch comes just weeks after British angler Tom Ascott, from Sturminster Newton, Dorset, hooked a world record 66lb shore-caught cod in Norway.

Steve Ace, pictured, said he could not believe his eyes when he was able to reel in the massive halibut

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Fisherman Paul Stevens caught a massive 83lb cod off the coast of Norway

But then his friend Bert Williams caught a 93lb beast the following day  

Experts say once-threatened species is thriving in Scandinavian waters  

Two British fisherman are celebrating today after landing two of the biggest cod ever caught.

Paul Stevens was overjoyed with his monster 83lbs catch in the sea off Norway.

But then his fisherman friend Bert Williams battered it the next day with a 93lbs beast – the biggest cod ever caught by a British angler.

His catch is still 10lbs off the world record but experts believe it is only a matter of time before the title is taken as the once-threatened species is now thriving in Scandinavian waters.

Monster of the sea: Paul Stevens was overjoyed with his incredible 83lbs catch in the sea off Norway

Bert Williams battered his friend’s catch the next day with a 93lbs beast – the biggest cod ever caught by a British angler

Bert reeled in his five foot-long catch after a frantic 20 minute battle off Soroya, Norway.

The 71-year-old, from the Wirral, Merseyside, said he thought he had snared a whale to begin with.

He said: ‘I’ve never felt anything like it before. As soon as it caught my bait it pulled 20 metres of line from my reel – the only time that has happened before is when I got snagged on a boat propeller.

‘When I’d recovered I saw there was so much air coming up out of the water I thought it was some kind of whale, it was just so big. It took two men to get in in the boat.’

It was not just plucky Brits who struck it big as Norwegian guide Johan Mikkelson also caught an 89lb cod

The friends think the abundance of cod in the waters is due to a ban on catching capelin – as the cod’s mouths are overflowing with capelin when they are reeled in

‘It was absolutely enormous, I couldn’t believe it was real. Even though it was 10lbs bigger than mine I was delighted for him.

‘I think we are going to have a world record soon because the cod there are just gorging themselves.

‘I think it is because of a ban on catching capelin which is their main source of food, their mouths are overflowing when we pull them in.’

It was not just plucky Brits who struck it big as Norwegian guide Johan Mikkelson also caught an 89lb cod.

Tom Ascott, 32, from Dorset, hauled in the world record shore-caught cod earlier this month, which weighed an incredible 66lb 8oz

The monster catches came after William Irving, of west Wales, landed a 70lb 5oz cod in the same stretch of water.

And they follow the world record breaking exploits of Dorset man Tom Ascott, 32, who hauled in the world record shore-caught cod earlier this month, which weighed an incredible 66lb 8oz and was gifted to Norwegian locals.

The UK cod record stands at 58lbs 6ozs.

The odd pink fish has been identified as an albino swell shark.

The captain said the most unusual features were the weirdly shaped green eyes.

He said: “I was really surprised but what caused most impact were the eyes, so strange.”

Albino swell shark caught in Mexico PISCES SPORTFISHING
WEIRD: The captain was struck by the creature’s eyes
Thinking the “alien” could be endangered, he took lots of pictures and released it back into the wild.

Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, who shared the photo on their Facebook page, later confirmed that the creature is an albino swell shark.
Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, who shared the photo on their Facebook page, later confirmed that the creature is an albino swell shark.

A post read: “Alien fish mystery solved – After studying the photos, the experts agree that the strange fish is an albino swell shark – still alive and well!”

Anglers who limit their catches in the interests of conservation run the risk of a fishing prosecution. If you go down to the coast today, you’ll find tens of thousands of anglers on beaches, piers, jetties and small boats casting a line into the sea. One of the advantages of a mild December is that bass, which traditionally head for warmer waters at this time of year, are still in plentiful supply.

That’s not just a bonus for recreational fishermen, but also for charter skippers like Neil French, who operates the 40-foot Spirit of Arun out of Littlehampton, in West Sussex. He relies on keen anglers to make his living and can accommodate up to eight at a time. On a good day, they bring home between six and a dozen bass each trip.

Not any more. As of midnight last night, Neil and his clients will be committing a criminal offence and risk a fishing prosecution if they return with just one fish.

Under the radar, the EU has sneaked in a new law making it illegal to take home a single bass. It applies not just to small businessmen like Neil, but also to individual anglers who go no further into the sea than halfway up their waders who now may face a fishing prosecution.

Few of these weekend sportsmen will have any idea they are doing anything wrong. Neil only found out after rumours surfaced on social media.

He has received no official communication from Brussels, or from Defra, the British ministry responsible for fisheries. It took Nigel Farage, Ukip leader and himself an enthusiastic sea angler, to dig out the relevant directive.

This fishing prosecution specifies that anyone catching and keeping a bass off the British coast is liable to a fine of up to £50,000. Yet the law applies only to inshore fishing. Commercial trawlers, predominantly French and Spanish, will still be allowed to catch 1.3 tonnes of bass a month.

So no surprises there, then.

Neil told me: ‘These commercial boats can catch as much in a night as I will catch in five years, but they won’t be affected.’

The measure has been introduced in the name of preservation. But if there is a shortage of bass, something Neil disputes, it isn’t the fault of recreational anglers and skippers of small charter boats.

‘Most anglers are acutely aware of the need to conserve stocks and behave responsibly. I’d say in my experience that there has been no decline here — quite the opposite, in fact,’ says Neil, 57, who has been running his charter operation for 15 years and has been fishing for fun all his life.

No, if there is a European shortage of bass, then it’s all down to overfishing on an industrial scale by foreign-owned vessels, plundering the seas under the disastrous Common Fisheries Policy.

Yet these commercial operators won’t suffer as a result of this latest directive — apart from a brief pause during the spawning season in February and March.

The rules will apply until June, when they will be relaxed. After that, sea anglers will be allowed to keep a grand total of one bass each.

While the foreign fishing boats will steam full ahead regardless, the future for hundreds of British charter skippers like Neil is uncertain. He charges around £60 a head per angler, per day, which doesn’t leave a huge profit after overheads such as fuel, maintenance and insurance are taken into account. And because of the weather, he can only fish approximately 160 days a year. Work it out for yourselves.

It’s not just the impact on charter skippers, either. There’s an entire coastal economy dependent upon sports fishing — bed-and-breakfasts, bait-and-tackle shops, pubs.

Britain’s ports and fishing villages have been devastated ever since Grocer Heath shamefully traded away our traditional fishing grounds in 1972, in his desperation to join what was then known as the Common Market.

Leaving all that to one side for a moment, though, the real scandal here is the contempt for individual liberty which is the hallmark of the EU.

A measure such as this would never have passed a vote at Westminster. There would have been uproar. More people go angling than watch Premier League football.

And you know — you, just know — that this latest directive will be enforced far more rigorously in Britain than anywhere else in Europe.

Regular readers may remember the case of retired trawler skipper, Earnest ‘Bubs’ Cromer, which I brought you last year. Bubs, 76, from Grimsby, was persecuted by the authorities for catching a few fish in a net in the Humber Estuary in defiance of an EU-inspired by-law.

Meanwhile, successive governments have stood back as European policy has reduced Grimsby from the busiest fishing port in the world, boasting 700 trawlers, to a rotting husk.

The last time I looked, there were just five trawlers operating from Grimsby — a third of the number of boats servicing useless offshore windfarms, put there at vast public expense to comply with the EU’s insane ‘green’ energy policies.

For the past 45 years we have been told lies about our relationship with Europe, which has its tentacles in every aspect of our lives, from telling us who has the right to live here to how many fish we can catch off Brighton beach.

As I explained on Tuesday, the widespread flooding which has engulfed much of Britain is an inevitable result of doolally Brussels environmental directives.

Only this week we learned that our contributions to the EU now top £1 billion a month. Another report claimed that EU legislation covers enough pages to stretch for 130 miles.

Is that all?

Call Me Dave promised to sort all this out, to seek a fundamental renegotiation of our EU membership. At the last election, we trusted him to keep his word.

We have learned to our cost that he was lying through his teeth.

There’s been no attempt to unravel the fisheries policy; or the Common Agricultural Policy; to repatriate powers to make our own laws; or to scrap many of those absurd regulations particularly this fishing prosecution which now exists only because of Brussels diktats.

The government sold out our cod and haddock fleets for the sake of political expediency. Now it’s the turn of our sea bass fishermen.

A keen angler drowned when his new lifejacket failed to save him as he fished at a beauty spot, an inquest has heard.

Experienced angler Angus Rae, 51, toppled into 30ft of water from a boat when he suffered an epileptic fit.

He won a prize to fish at the reservoir – and bought the new £60 Parmaris lifejacket for his trip.

But the self-inflating lifejacket he was wearing for the first time did not turn 18st Mr Rae onto his back as he struggled in the water.

It was the first time Mr Rae, a keen angler since he was a child, had worn the self inflating lifejacket.

Friend desperately tried to reach him

His friend Simon Ladd tried desperately to reach his companion with an oar but couldn’t save him.

Mr Ladd said: “Angus was at the stern of the boat when he suddenly he fell into the water.

“He was submerged under the water before the life jacket inflated and he came to the surface.”

Other fishermen nearby held him above the water by his shoulders before two reservoir rangers managed to pull him out.

But despite being given CPR from the rangers and, later, paramedics Mr Rae could not be revived.

The inquest heard the father-of-two had won a raffle to fish for pike at Llandegfedd reservoir near Cwmbran

Former tree surgeon Mr Rae, of Minsterley, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had suffered two previous seizures in the months before the tragedy, the inquest at Newport was told.

‘He was wearing his new life jackets’

His widow Alison, 51, wept as she told the inquest: “He had researched life jackets on the internet. He wasn’t concerned about fishing again because he was wearing his new life jackets and he felt safe.”

Coroners officer Jon Lewis told the inquest that Mr Rae had bought a Parmaris life jacket at a shop in Ludlow, Shropshire.

He said: “It is sustainable for use in extreme conditions but when wearing heavy clothing it will not self right.”

The inquest heard he was wearing a shell jacket and jumper and waterproof trousers.

Gwent deputy coroner Wendy James said: “Mr Rae bought the life jacket after considerable research and was wearing it for the first time. It gave him a sense of security because he thought it would turn him onto his back.

“He believed he had taken adequate precautions by wearing a life jacket.”

The coroner ruled Mr Rae’s death was accidental, and that he drowned after suffering an epileptic fit.

The first ever Welsh women’s carp-fishing team is playing England this weekend in what will be the first fishing match of its kind.

Having only formed last year, Ladies Carp Team Cymru will take on their British-rival opposition in what will be a 45-hour-long competition running from April 15 to 17.
And while there is a slight amount of nervous anticipation about their debut event, the female Welsh fishers are more excited about officially starting a women’s team in carp-fishing.

Their 25-year-old captain Samantha Roberts, of Pontypridd, said: “We’re so excited. We’re making history and it’s only the beginning. Hopefully ladies carp-fishing will become more and more widespread across the globe and start to become an international phenomenon.”

All six ladies live within South Wales around the Cardiff and Newport areas, with their ages ranging between 20 and 49.

Starting at midday on Friday, the ladies will be spending the weekend trying to catch as many carp fishes as possible in 45 hours.

It will be the first ever course fishing team competition of its kind with Natalie Chapman, one of the members from Cardiff, saying: “We’re making history and it’s just amazing. Before I met these six women I’d never met any woman who really enjoyed fishing.

“It’s exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time. Fishing’s surprisingly complicated and I’m still learning but hopefully we’ll be able to put in a good performance and beat the English this weekend.”

All six of the women in the team have always been big fishers, but only two of them knew each other beforehand.

Having always been a keen fisher, 33-year-old Natalie joined a fishing appreciation group on Facebook last year where she met Samantha.

It was through this that Samantha set up plans to make an official fishing team and towards the end of last year the six women properly met and Ladies Carp Team Cymru was born.

“It’s the first ever official carp-fishing team for Wales. We signed papers the other week and it’s now official so we’re really excited,” said Natalie.

“In less than five years, I hope there’ll be a world championship for women carp fishers,” said Samantha.

Samantha said this is a “peaceful event” where the teams simply enjoy catching the fish for a “friendly hello” and quick photograph before safely releasing them back into their natural environment.

“We were all independent anglers just going about our own thing, and then I put it out there about setting up our own fishing team,” said Samantha.

The team members all work in various professions including a teacher, a carer, a fire service-trainer, Go Outdoors personal assistant and customer complaints assistant.

This weekend’s competition is being held at Barston Lakes in the West Midlands and will see the two six-woman team each split into three pairs and then put in three different areas of the lake, with each spot having both a Welsh and English pair trying to catch as many carp fishes as possible in two days.

And the captain said there may well not be much sleep gained that weekend as both teams would no doubt work hard during the two days to catch as many carp as possible.

Explaining the scoring, Samantha said: “In each of the three spots, whoever wins gets two points, if you’ve caught fish but not as much as the other two, you get one point. If you blank, which means you catch no fish, you get no points.”

The teams know each other so it should be a “friendly competitive weekend” with Samantha saying “this is just the beginning” for Welsh women’s carp-fishing team.

Two Welsh fisherman got more than they bargained for after catching giant tuna that are thought to be worth over £75,000.

Anglers Chris Bett and Michael Steer had been fishing off the Welsh coast when the monster fish took the bait.

It was after a four-hour struggle when 50-year-old Chris Bett managed to wrangle in the 500lbs Bluefin Tuna.

Shortly afterwards, fellow angler Michael, pulled in a 300lbs tuna.

The anglers say it took three very strong men to lift the creature into the boat.

The pair had just returned from an unsuccessful fishing trip to Madeira so were making up for their losses.