[tic]

I actually think it could have been a great white.

A while back I did some shark tagging off the west coast of scotland - basking sharks, during which several other species where recorded; porbeagle, blue and mako.

A lot of people will argue that a Great White wouldn't be seen around the british coastline, though killer whales have been seen here as well, as have atlantic bottlenose dolphins; quite regularly in the case of "flipper".

There is confirmation regarding the Mediterranean Sea, as a breeding ground for Great Whites and there's no reason why a Great White wouldn't venture further north. The Great White has been found off the coast of New Foundland, in Canada, which is (geographically in terms of water temperature) similar to the british coastal waters,and even as far as Alaska and Siberia in Russia; and the western coast has a large seal population, the shark's main diet. So there's practically no reason why the shark couldn't be found here.

The Food and Agricultural Organization within the United Nations (FAO) officially states the Great White Sharks migratory range includes the English Channel, Irish Sea and the North Sea.

A previous sighting (2004) was near the western coast of scotland near Ullapool.