A baby mako shark was spotted just a few feet from shore twice last week.

Melissa Ray said she spotted the shark as she walked near near the flagpole flagpole on Front Street at about 5pm last Monday.

She added: “At first I thought it was a stick, or maybe a dead fish but then I noticed it was swimming around.

“I took a video and posted it on Facebook.

“A few people commented that it looked like a shark, then someone tagged Choy Aming – the shark guy in Bermuda.

“Choy responded that night saying it was definitely a shark. At first he thought it could be a Galapagos, but couldn’t tell for sure.”

But Ms Ray said she saw a later post from Mr Aming on Facebook.

She added: Choy posted ’Big update’. He saw another video and it is a baby mako which is extremely rare to see in Bermuda.

“I was super excited. I didn’t sleep until after midnight. I’m actually afraid of sharks – I’m Bermudian but I never get in the water.”

The shark, about two to three feet long, was also seen off Barr’s Bay Park on Pitts Bay Road, Pembroke last Thursday.

Mr Aming of the Bermuda Shark Project, which monitors the behaviour and movements of sharks, said he was told about the Barr’s Bay Park sighting.

Mr Aming added: “I have since checked and it is gone.

“It was the same shark as the one at the flagpole.

“He is probably just hanging around because it is a safe place for a small shark. Big sharks regularly eat little sharks.”

Mr Aming said: “It is not necessarily rare to see sharks close to shore.

“If you are a small shark, you can find food inshore and have a very low chance of being eaten by a large shark, so it is not surprising.

“But a baby mako is a rare find. I have never even seen a live mako here, so a baby is very rare.”

Mr Aming added: “I have a friend who is a commercial fisherman that has only seen three in 30 years of fishing.

“They are more common in other places, but still rare overall and an endangered species.”

Mr Aming said that the shark was unlikely to pose a risk to humans.

He added that baby sharks did not stay close to their mothers after birth.

Mr Aming said: “They get dropped off on day one and away they go. That shark is about two years old, give or take.”