Daytrippers on a trip out to sea from Bridlington were treated to a rare sight after the world’s second largest shark made an appearance.

Around 130 people watched in amazement on Sunday as they saw the fin of a basking shark swimming round the coast of Flamborough and RSPB volunteer Chrys Mellor managed to capture these incredible images.

She was on board the pleasure cruiser Yorkshire Belle, run by the RSPB, which takes people out to the cliffs to view the sea birds.

She said: “I’m a volunteer on the RSPB Seabird Cruises - organised by RSPB Bempton - on the Yorkshire Belle out of Bridlington.

Rare sight as a basking shark was spotted off Flamborough
Rare sight as a basking shark was spotted off Flamborough

"You hope to see birds, dolphins and whales, but not a shark so it was totally unexpected. It just swam past the side of the boat. There were screams and yells all round

“I have been doing this for almost 30 years and, as far as I can recall, this is only the third sighting and definitely a WOW moment. They are not common this far south in the North Sea!"

Read more: Hull and East Yorkshire news

Rare sight as a basking shark was spotted off Flamborough
Rare sight as a basking shark was spotted off Flamborough

Indeed, you are far more likely to see basking sharks on the west coast of Britain and can be seen in areas like Cornwall, the western isles of Scotland and the Isle of Man during the summer.

Despite their vast size, reaching lengths of eight metres, these prehistoric-looking creatures are actually harmless. They feed off plankton by opening their huge mouths and can filter a swimming pool-size amount of water in an hour.

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They are the second largest fish in the world and are only outsized by the whale shark which is also a harmless plankton feeder.

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