Swimmers rush INTO the sea...to take a closer look at a 16ft shark

And it seems there is plenty of room for beach-goers and sharks alike.

The days when a shark sighting sent bathers racing up the beach in fear seem to be long gone. Indeed, this 16ft basking shark was as much of an attraction as the sunshine.

Scroll down for more...

Close encounter: Two men in wetsuits take a more in-depth look at the creature

Swimmers and surfers piled into the sea to try to get a closer look at the creature.

They are well aware that the sharks represent no danger to humans since they eat nothing bigger than plankton.

Scroll down for more...

The picture was taken on Saturday by photographer Rachel Hosken from cliffs above the beach at Porthcurno, near Land's End.

"In the last few days they have been swimming up to the beach," she said. "The water is so clear that it is just beautiful to watch them. Despite their size they are very graceful indeed."

She added: "The lifeguard was nearby so he would have told people to move away if they had come too close.

"Everyone has got used to them swimming near the beach but it is still exciting when they appear."

Basking sharks, the second-largest fish in the world after the whale shark, are the biggest wild animal to visit Britain regularly, growing up to 36ft and seven tons.

Although they are not aggressive, their huge size means they could do serious damage to any swimmer who got too close.

David Ball, head of the Silver Dolphin Conservation and Diving Centre in Penzance, said after a recent visit by another basking shark: "They are docile, but you have to be careful because they are such massive creatures. Often they don't even know you are there in the water with them and they can hit you with their tail accidentally."

Lifeguard Stefan Harkon said: "Basking sharks are harmless but we try to keep people away from them because they are a protected species in Britain."

Elsewhere they are killed in large numbers for their liver oil, meat and cartilage. In Asia they are used to make shark-fin soup – a single large fin can be worth £5,000.

Despite their bulk, they can leap clear of the water. They filter the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool every hour to take in enough plankton.

They swim, at no more than 3mph, by moving their entire bodies from side to side, not just their tails like other sharks.

Over the weekend thousands flocked to beaches as most parts of the country enjoyed temperatures of up to 77f (25c).

But the hot weather led to the death of a 17-year- old who drowned as he cooled off in the River Lune, at Halton, near Lancaster, on Saturday afternoon.

He was swimming in the waterway, which is known for its strong currents, with a group of friends when he got into difficulty.