Has the Solent shark been caught on camera?

Simon Masson, believes he has photographed the beast off the shore of Langstone Harbour.

He said: ‘I saw this fin breaking the water in Langstone Harbour and I think it was a shark.

‘Although I was on the beach and it was some way out, I took the picture as it was such an unusual sight.

‘I saw the Boat Club Trafalgar competition to win a membership and thought I’d enter just in case it was a great white.’

Simon’s sighting comes after, Boat Club Trafalgar asked Solent boaters to keep their eyes peeled after rumours of the shark came to light.

That came after fishing journalist Graeme Pullen claimed to have been tracking a great white shark off the coast of Hayling Island for the past two years.

The club offered a year’s membership to anyone who could produce a photo of the shark.

Managing director of Boat Club Trafalgar, Jonny Boys, said: ‘There certainly is a lot of wildlife in the Solent.

‘This proves that it is worth keeping your eyes open, as you never know what you will see.

‘We will have to send this photo off to the Shark Trust to see what they make of it.’

Great white sharks are not believed to live in British waters, with Shark Trust saying that it is ‘unlikely’ that one is around.

Managing director Paul Cox explained: ‘It does seem unlikely to me. Despite the warm weather recently, I’m not sure that the conditions would suit a great white.

‘There are some sharks that can be seen in UK waters – if I had to guess, if there was one in the area it would likely be a mako or basking shark.

‘For it to be a great white shark would be rather incredible, but we need a photograph instead of going on hearsay.’

Whoever is the first person to capture a photograph or video of the rumoured great white shark – which has to be verified by Shark Trust – will be rewarded with a year of free membership to Boat Club Trafalgar.

If you have any footage of the shark, you can send it to them by emailing [email protected].