Incredible moment a leaping 19ft shark explodes out of the sea off UK coast

THIS is the incredible moment a 19ft shark is seen leaping out the sea just off the British coast.

Joshua Pedley, 28, captured the breathtaking pictures while enjoying a boat trip near New Quay, Ceredigion, on Friday.

The photographer, known as The WIldlife Man, detailed how the thresher shark exploded out the water just metres from a group of tourists.

Taking to social media to share the photos, he said: "Today at approximately 2.15pm on our boat trip, we saw a MASSIVE shark. This is a thresher shark, one of the most simply exquisite pieces of fish-based engineering out there.

"With a tail as long as its body, this beast is not only huge, but absolutely gorgeous. We estimate that it was probably between five and six metres long."

The thresher shark - Alopias pelagicus in Latin - are an endangered species which are on the Red List of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) List of Threatened Species.

The official British record for a thresher shark caught is 323lbs which was caught off the coast of Portsmouth in 1982.

Joshua told the sighting was "unusual", adding that it was the first time he had come across a thresher in five years.

He added that it was a "truly remarkable" experience watching the shark jump out the water on three occasions.

The photographer continued: "We estimate that this specific individual that we saw was probably between five to six metres long with them on average maxing out at about six metres in length."

Threshers feed on fish and squids, using their tail as a whip to either stun or slice their prey.

He said the sighting was proof of how "healthy and rich with wildlife our local water actually are".

It comes days after a shark with a large, menacing "Jaws"-like fin was glimpsed in the sea just off the Norfolk coast, close to where plenty of locals and tourists bathe.

Terrifying footage also emerged of a six-foot prowling off a Cornwall harbour last week.

The great blue shark was seen inside Newlyn Harbour near Penzance.