Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water … footage of a rare shark swimming in the Firth of Forth has been posted on YouTube.
The creature, believed to be a tope shark, is understood to have been caught on camera by a man fishing for mackerel near the old beacon at Methil Pier recently.
Tope sharks are not normally seen off the east coast of Scotland and are more common on the west coast.
The species is ranked as ”vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) Red List meaning it is not critically endangered or endangered but faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.
Tina Aydon from the Deep Sea World aquarium in North Queensferry said tope shark populations in the Forth plummeted 50 to 60 years ago because of over-fishing.
”They are a very vulnerable coastal species because they are vulnerable to bycatch,” she said. ”They are also very slow to mature. They don’t mature until they are 10 years old, so they are a slow-breeding species.
”They are more common on the west coast. We’d probably be going back 50 or 60 years when they were last in the Forth.
”I’ve lived in Scotland for 10 years and have never heard of one in the Forth. It’s definitely an unusual sighting and could suggest they are coming back.”
With the females capable of growing to a metre and a half long, topes are relatively small compared to other sharks.
Deep Sea World has two of them in captivity and Ms Aydon confirmed the Methil shark was not an escapee.
”I fed them both this afternoon,” she added.
It is not the first time Levenmouth has hit the headlines for its animal antics.
Last year, it was feared a 12-foot Burmese python was on the loose after it was reported missing by its concerned owner in Leven. The snake was later traced safe and well in the keeper’s home.
And last September, video footage of a white-tailed sea eagle which had landed on a roof in Methil was posted online.