Hundreds of swimmers fled the waters of South Shore yesterday in fear after as many as four sharks cruised just yards from the shoreline on the Island's most popular holiday spot.

For the first time in living memory, lifeguards leapt into action and evacuated the ocean at Horseshoe Bay after a number of swimmers began to scream "shark".

The scene was described as being like something out of the hit 1970s movie Jaws as people dashed to the sand, grabbing children on the way.

And lifeguard Russ Dyrly came in for praise afterwards for disregarding his own safety and going into the shark-infested waters in order to alert three snorkellers swimming out by the rocks who were oblivious to what was happening around them.

As he swam to inform the snorkellers, one of the sharks went by him just five feet away.

But it was tourist Paul Cizek, on holiday in Bermuda with his family from Connecticut, who at first raised the alarm after seeing one of the dark grey sharks just inches away from him as he stood waist height in the water.

He said: "I came out swimming at about 10 a.m. and, as I entered the water, a man was walking out and he said he had just seen a five foot fish swim by. I thought that was pretty amazing and wondered why he was walking out - I would have been running.

"But then about half an hour later, I saw what looked to be like a dolphin or a shark. It was just about 20 feet away. As it got closer I could see it was definitely a shark. I could see its dorsal fin.

"I began screaming as loud as I could, but people couldn't hear me over the noise of the waves.

"Then the man nearest me turned around towards me, and literally, right in front of him was the shark. He looked totally shocked.

"The shark headed off towards a group of swimmers and I thought I was going to see red water and flapping humans."

There was conflicting accounts of how many sharks were in the water at Horseshoe Bay yesterday, but there were at least two and people described one of them as being as big as nine foot.

Lifeguard Mr. Dyrly, 23, from New York, said he saw two swimming around - one was bigger than the other.

However, Elliott and Jodi Monagas, on holiday from New Jersey, said they saw four different sharks.

Mr. Monagas said: "They were about six or seven foot long and they were very near the shore. They were in only two-and-a-half feet of water at some points. They were right where the waves were breaking and people were standing.

"Everyone got out of the water quite quickly, I ran - it was like Jaws. I could hear somebody shouting "shark".

"There wasn't really any panicking, and then everyone just stood and watched, grabbing their cameras."

Mr. Dyrly, who has worked as a lifeguard at Horseshoe Bay for three years, said: "I have never seen anything like this before.

"I was on the tower and I could hear commotion in the water. Someone shouted "shark".

"I came running down to the west end of the beach. I entered the water to get all the swimmers and snorkellers out.

"There were three people left, out here on the rocks, so I went out to get them. They had no idea.

"The water was emptied very quickly. I wouldn't say there was really panic, once people were out they were happy to take pictures from the shore."

Members of the Parks Department Members of the Parks Department turned out to see the sharks yesterday, as well as members of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

They said it was the first time in memory that sharks had been spotted so close to a bay, especially one filled with swimmers during the daytime, although they were very common around the Island.

The sharks, believed to be grey reef sharks, swam in the bay for about 20 minutes after it had been evacuated, and then left as quietly as they arrived.

Lifeguards and park officials ordered people stay out of the water for a while, but once the curfew was lifted at 12.20 p.m., hundreds of swimmers returned to the waves as though nothing had happened.

The sharks were later said to have been spotted at Sinky Bay, near the Sonesta Hotel on South Shore, and off the shore in Paget.

But a man is also said to have reported seeing a shark in John Smith's Bay at about 8 p.m. on Monday. Parks officer Craig Burt, who was called to the scene, said he could not remember any similar incident to this one in Bermuda.

He said: "I can't ever remember a beach being closed because of sharks. Horseshoe Bay is the closest I have known them come to shore in broad daylight. But, people catch sharks off Astwood Park quite regularly. Sharks are not rare in these waters.

"Who knows why they entered the area, but there is no need to panic. People just have to realise that when they swim, they are in the habitat of the sharks. I will certainly go swimming there again."

Government last night released a statement about the rare shark sightings.

It read: "There are lots of sharks in Bermuda waters and always have been. Most of those seen close to shore are nurse sharks or sand sharks, which are generally considered not to be a danger to humans. Certainly, the number of incidents there have been involving sharks and humans in living memory is extremely small.

"There is no need to be unduly concerned. The lifeguards at Horseshoe Bay today suggested that people simply get out of the water until the creatures moved on, and that was good advice."

Ralph Richardson, of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, went to the scene with the centre's education director Crystal Schultz, but the sharks were nowhere to be seen by then.

He said he had no idea why the sharks had come so close to shore, and said it was remarkable that they simply cruised around in the surf.

He said: "What's really interesting is that they didn't attack anyone and there was definitely an opportunity for them to.

"What happened today is extremely rare in Bermuda. I would say there should be caution, but certainly no cause for panic. I don't think there was any panic yesterday, people seemed thrilled to have the opportunity to watch them."

Bermuda last had a shark attack over thirty years ago, when a minor incident was reported.