Swimming with the shark in Cornwall

Porthcurno, England -- When swimmers at an English coastal resort spotted a 16-foot basking shark, they decided to join it.

The sharks are familiar visitors in Porthcurno near Land's End in Cornwall. Swimmers knew that, in spite their size, basking sharks, which strain plankton from the water for food, are harmless to humans.

Rachel Hosken, a photographer who captured an image of Saturday's shark from a cliff over the beach, said they have been moving along the coast for several days.

"The water is so clear that it is just beautiful to watch them," she told The Daily Mail. "Despite their size they are very graceful indeed. The lifeguard was nearby so he would have told people to move away if they had come too close."

The largest basking shark on record was just more than 40 feet long and weighed 16 tons. They are one of the largest with only the whale shark larger.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.