Footage emerges of sharks swimming off the Dorset coast

Watch: Shark swims under a paddleboarder in Dorset

Footage has emerged of a pair of sharks swimming close to the Dorset coast.  

It follows the closure of the beach at Boscombe on Wednesday after a sighting of what was described as a 'large aquatic creature'. 

Paddleboarder Anthony Robins filmed the sharks near the surface just off Hengistbury Head a few weeks ago.

Anthony has some knowledge of sharks and thinks they were probably Tope or Smoothhounds - both are harmless to humans. 

He said: "That morning the water was really, really glassy so you could see everything rippling across the water.

"We just saw a couple of fins 50 yards ahead of us moving quite slowly. It was only because it was so glassy we could see them cutting across.

"It was quite exhilarating to see nature, and to see the move in that shark was fantastic as it went right under the board."

In response to Wednesday's incident at Boscombe beach, the RNLI said it recommends swimmers "always visit a lifeguarded beach" and "report any concerning marine wildlife to the lifeguards on duty".