The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has confirmed that Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth, England, was temporarily closed on August 4th following sightings of unidentified “large marine life.”

Lifeguards closed the beach for 30 minutes while conducting a search for the creature(s), but reopened it after finding no signs of any unusual animal.

“There were sightings of large marine life at Boscombe beach," a spokesperson for the RNLI said at the time of the sightings. “The situation is being closely monitored by RNLI lifeguards, who are asking visitors to stay away from the water and have put up red flags.”

The charity later added, “RNLI lifeguards flagged the beaches for a short period of time to investigate reports received of unidentified marine life. We still have no confirmation of what the creature was, and everyone going into the sea should enjoy it but, as always, respect the water and exercise an appropriate level of caution, including keeping around 200 meters from marine life for your and their safety.”

One witness who was at the beach that day told the Daily Echo, "There were some splashes in the water and the lifeguards said they hadn't seen anything like it in 35 years. It was said over the Tannoy that there was sea life in the water, so everyone was called out and the lifeguards went up and down on a jet ski. Half an hour to an hour later, everyone was still out of the water when they put the red and yellow flags up and said that you could go back in the water but you might be called out at any time.”

The RNLI was ultimately unable to identify the creature, but fisherman Darron Tapper said it was a “monster shark” that pulled the fishing rod out of his hands that day.

The 54-year-old was fishing from his kayak when something large went for his lure.

"I was pulling a lure back into shore and something grabbed that, I almost turned over in my kayak," he said in an interview with The Sun. "I spun around and saw a big shadow."

Tapper returned to Boscombe Beach to alert the lifeguards but, by the time he arrived, they had already received two other reports from bathers of what was suspected to be a shark in the water.

Although all the fisherman saw was a large shadow under the surface, he believes it may have been a shark due to the strength of its bite.

"I know what fish are, it was something big," he said. "As a fisherman I've never heard of a shark in these waters, so that was the last thing on my mind. It is very possible [that it was a shark, but] I'm speculating that, I don't know what else would have the power. If you saw how it took my rod and reel, I didn't stand a chance. God knows what would have happened, I looked like a seal in my wetsuit. In 13 years, I have never ever experienced that, it is a bit of a thrill to think I escaped the clutches."

Experts, however, remain unsure what the creature might have been.

“The sea is a big place so anything can turn up, what's more likely is a basking shark but that would be on the surface," Peter Tinsley, marine policy and evidence manager at the Dorset Wildlife Trust, said in a statement to the Daily Echo. “Thresher sharks are known in this area, chasing mackerel on the surface, so that's a possibility. However, a shark probably would not take a lure so it could be a bluefin tuna, really a large sunfish is possible—they have an enormous fin and can be found on the surface.”

Sarah Hodgson, a coastal centers assistant at the Wildlife Trust, said that “the sharks that we get in British waters aren’t considered to be dangerous or aggressive to humans” and added “sharks are regularly encountered by divers and anglers and some species can be found swimming close to the shore including smooth hounds and even basking sharks.”

Without more evidence, one can only speculate on the mysterious creature's identity, but Ali Hood, the Director of Conservation at The Shark Trust, had this to say: “UK waters are home to a fascinating diversity of large marine life, dolphins, small whales, bluefin tuna and a variety of sharks, this sighting could be one of many exciting species.”

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