Huge 9ft shark caught off the coast of Cornwall

A large porbeagle shark - a relative of the great white - has been caught off the coast of Cornwall.

In what might be a little intimidating for Bank Holiday tourists, the shark was around 9ft long, weighing approximately 400lbs.

It was caught by fisherman Mark Nelson, who had been fishing four miles off the coast, near Boscastle, with mackerel bait.

He said it was too big to bring onto his 18ft boat, so he brought it alongside the vessel, where he measured and photographed it, before releasing it.

According to the Metro, Mr Nelson said: "I had caught a 300lb shark the day before and I was over the moon with that one.

"But it felt like I had hooked into a submarine in comparison when I caught the bigger one the next day.

"It took me an hour-and-a-half to get it to the boat. It had so much power and aggression. My arms were aching a lot afterwards and had pins and needles."

Skipper of the charter boat Jerry Rogers calculated the weight of the porbeagle, a species of mackerel shark, at more than 400lbs (28 stone) - one of the largest sharks ever caught in British waters, reports the Express.

Despite its appearance and size, holidaymakers don't really need to be concerned.

Porbeagles mainly eat fish, and rarely attack humans.

The porbeagle is distributed widely in the cold and temperate marine waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere.

It typically reaches 8.2ft in length and a weight of 135 kg (298lb), but North Atlantic sharks grow larger than the Southern Hemisphere sharks.

The meat and fins of the porbeagle are highly valued, which has led to a long history of intense human exploitation. However, this species cannot sustain heavy fishing pressure due to its low reproductive capacity.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the porbeagle as 'Vulnerable' worldwide, and as either 'Endangered' or 'Critically Endangered' in different parts of its northern range.