Locals and visitors displayed composure in the face of yesterday's shark scare at Horseshoe Bay.

Asked for their opinions on the streets of Hamilton, people told The Royal Gazette they felt the incident, which saw the beach cleared by lifeguards after between one and four sharks were spotted close to shore, was a rare one and that it would not have any significant impact on Bermuda's tourism industry.

Visitor Darren Seifer, from Chicago, Illinois, said he and his friends were back in the water just hours after the sightings, which happened at about 11 a.m. "We were told about what happened before we went snorkeling but not one person out of the whole party decided not to go," he said. "They told us about the fact that they don't usually come in past the coral and we feel pretty safe swimming here."

Asked if he would be coming back to Bermuda despite the sightings, Mr. Seifer said: "Yeah, definitely. We come back all the time and this isn't going to stop us."

Artist Amy Zanders said the sighting might give her a bit of pause before going to Horseshoe Bay to swim. "It is a bit scary. All of us younger lot have been raised on Jaws so I guess it's understandable."

But she said she did not think the scare would hurt tourism, noting that a recent shark attack in Florida had not seemed to deter visitors from going there. "People come here more to get a tan than to swim anyway," Ms Zanders said.

Another visitor John Balcuk, from Long Island, New York, said: "I don't like the water anyway but I'm definitely not going in now. I don't think it'll hurt tourism though. This place has plenty to offer people besides the water. I'm definitely coming back." Office executive Antoine Waldron said such sightings were rare and attacks were even rarer. "Sharks have always been there and they always will be. Things like this don't happen to often though," he said.

Asked whether he felt it might have detrimental affect on tourism, he said: "That's a good question. I guess it depends on how much people talk about it. It might hurt tourism a bit, even though its been a long time since a shark attack or anything."

Visiting student Ilona Wolf said: "After hearing about that kid who was attacked in Florida its a bit scary. It's kind of rare thing here though."

Her friend, resident Alexandra Wallingdale said: I'll be a bit more cautious in the water but I don't think it'll affect tourism at all. People still go to Florida after all."

Andra Simons, who works in a cafe, said: "I guess I'll be a little more afraid of going in the water now, but it really depends on where I'm going swimming."

He added: "This is an uncommon thing and I don't think it'll hurt tourism. In a year no-one will be thinking about it.

Law student Chen Foley said he was not afraid of sharks and added that sharks only usually attack people if they are provoked by people. "Hopefully this is a one off. It's a shame sharks have a bad reputation too because they're beautiful creatures." Summer students Natalie Sannemalm and Vanessa Richmond said they felt this incident was probably "a bit of a fluke" . "I guess I might be a bit nervous about going in the water but there is a lot more to the Island than swimming," said Ms Richmond.