PLYMOUTH, England, July 28 (UPI) -- A new BBC TV documentary is stirring controversy about the existence of great white sharks off the coast of Britain.
Recent reported shark sightings by tourists and fishermen have raised speculation that white sharks are present in the coastal waters, the BBC said.
Conservationist Richard Peirce said he has been convinced by the number of individual reports, but marine biologist Douglas Herdson of the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth said white sharks are rare.
The water temperature in the region is conducive to sharks, and Henderson said they have undoubtedly visited the waters during the last few thousand years. But intensive fishing has dramatically reduced the numbers of sharks, he said.
"Shark populations such as blue sharks in the North Atlantic have crashed over the past few years," Herdson said.
Brian Bate, a lobster fisherman from Padstow, however, believes he saw a great white a few years back.
"I saw this big thing breach out of the water," he said. "It was quite a size to come leaping out of the water."
"Sharks: Great Whites in Great Britain" shows on BBC Sunday night.
