Locals fear great white shark in British waters after headless dolphin washed up on beach near Brighton
A DECAPITATED dolphin discovered on a beach near Brighton has sparked fresh fears among locals that a great white shark could be in the water.
The savaged creature was found washed up in Hove, East Sussex, on Monday morning by a runner.
It comes only weeks after a local man photographed what he claimed was a "shark fin"; in water yards off the beach in nearby Goring-by-Sea.
Georgia Tournay-Godfrey found the poor dolphin at 8.50am near The Meeting Place Café in King's Road.
She told how she and her brother have been "obsessing" over the shark sighting, so her discovery came as a shock.
Georgia said: "My first thought was that the great white had it for breakfast.
“Its head was missing. It was pretty gruesome.”
But Paul Cox of the Shark Trust was not so sure of the claims that a shark killed the dolphin.
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Responding to the picture of the dolphin, he told The Sun Online: "We've had many cases in the past where people have seen stranded marine mammals with injuries that are assumed to be bites.
"Quite often injuries are incurred post-mortem and from scavengers.
"Even birds and crabs can do a lot of damage."
Photos believed to be of a great white shark were captured by local man James Venn, 42, while he stood on the beach near Goring on February 4.
At the time, Mr Venn told The Argus: "I went down to the beach to feed the birds when I saw something come up just behind the waves.
"At the time I thought it was a seal but, when I looked at the photos again, I thought it doesn't look like a seal."
Mr Venn then sent his snaps to experienced shark fisherman Graeme Pullen, 70, who claimed it was "obviously a shark".
'SHARK' FEARS
Mr Pullen, who has been catching sharks for 45-years even suggested the fin could belong to a "small, immature great white" that came close to the shore to feed on seals and bass.
He said: "Analysing the photo it is obviously a shark - this can't be disputed.
"I've always thought there was a shark there as there have been so many sightings by fishermen, but James has managed to photograph the fin.
"It can only be a small, immature great white who was looking for seals or bass to eat as they are more likely to come in close (to land) to feed."
Mr Pullen said that a great white could "comfortably live permanently in these waters" swimming 70 miles of the coast every day.
A great white shark can grow to 20ft in length and weigh 5,000lbs - they can live for 70 years.
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It comes weeks after Brit Simon Nellist, 35, was attacked by a 15ft great white shark as he trained for a charity ocean swim in the sea off Sydney.
He was just 150m away from the beach at Buchan Point, near Little Bay in Sydney, when the predator struck in the first fatal attack in the area nearly 60 years.
