Passengers on the wild animals trip got the rare treat on Monday night. They were from Pen-yr-Afr when they saw the most unusual spectacle of the… Thresher shark jump out of the water.
According to Wales Online, the moment was captured on video with the three-meter-tall creature leaping high out of the water.
The shark emerged a few seconds later as the boat sailed away, much to the delight of the passengers on board.
Tony Barber, owner of A Bay to Remember which provides dolphin and wildlife tours in the Cardigan area, filmed the sighting.
Mr Barber, who runs the business with his wife, said it was only the third time they’ve seen a shark on the boat trips.
It was the first time they were able to catch one of the sharks on camera.
He said: “It’s quite unusual to see one like that.
“We see dolphins regularly and you might see a splash every now and then, but without really knowing what it is.
“We only saw sharks in the distance, but this time it was obvious because it was there.
READ MORE: Warning Sounded At 30,000 Feet As Passenger Flight 7700 Issues ‘Squawk’
The sharks can live for 50 years and are classified as vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
However, they are not aggressive and are considered harmless to humans.
A spokesman for The Wildlife Trust said the shark “rarely” wanders into coastal areas.
They said, “The thresher shark spends most of its time in the deep waters of the open sea and rarely wanders into coastal areas.
“To survive in these colder waters, they have evolved to be endothermic. This means they can maintain their body temperature higher than the temperature of the surrounding water.
“They do this through a specialized heat exchange system, which allows them to conserve heat produced by internal body mechanisms such as metabolism or muscle shivering.
Thresher sharks use their extremely long tails to hunt.
“They herd smaller fish into small schools, swim towards them and whip their tails, stunning some fish and making them easy to catch.”