The Great White off Majorca. | Beat vNi

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A Great White Shark has been photoghraphed off the coast of Majorca.

The 16.5ft (5.02 metre) shark was snapped by scientists near the Cabrera natural marine reserve.

Biologist Ricardo Sagarminaga van Buiten led the expedition Alnitak, on which the Great White was spotted.

He shared the impressive photo on the Alnitak Facebook page and commented to say the group had followed and observed the shark for just over an hour.

According to Van Buiten, this is the first scientific evidence of a Great White in Spanish waters for more than 30 years.

In the post, the team wrote: “In recent years there were possible unconfirmed sightings and various rumours, but this is the first scientific observation of the presence of the white shark in Spanish waters for at least 30 years.

“On this occasion, this historic sighting has been photographed, filmed and contemplated by a crew of 10 people from five countries.” There are believed to be 47 different species of shark living in the Mediterranean Sea, including the Great White.

Closer to the United Kingdom, a massive 15ft (4.5 metres) thresher shark, was spotted in Devon last week.Dr Tom Brereton, was out at sea just off Lyme Bay with a boat load of tourists when the huge fish jumped out of the water and slapped its tail onto the surface.

Tour guide Tom, who works at Naturetrek, which organised the tour, said: “We were on a Naturetrek wildlife trip into Lyme Bay looking for dolphins, whales and seabirds.

“It has already been an interesting year in Lyme Bay with sightings of minke whale, Risso’s dolphin, basking shark and ocean sunfish as well as the more usual common and bottlenose dolphins, so expectations were high.“Then in the deeper waters about 25 miles out I saw a big animal leaping clear of the water 200 metres ahead of the ship.”He added: “Seeing the shark leap out of the water really was a surreal and breathtaking experience.”