School's out for supper

As three holidaymakers splash happily in the waves off Palm Beach, a huge and menacing mass of sharks gathers only yards away.

They could have made a meal of the tourists within seconds.

Thankfully, the migrating spinner and blacktip sharks found enough to eat among the sardines, squid and anchovies off Florida's Atlantic coast.

But many incidents have been recorded of them attacking swimmers after

mistaking their splashing movements and shiny jewellery for shoals of fish.

The three people who escaped were in the water because they were on a stretch of sand not patrolled by lifeguards. By last night, however, swimming had been banned along a 60-mile stretch north of Miami.

One local said: 'I've been working here for 20 years and I've never seen as many sharks as this.' Lifeguard chief Paul Milne said: 'We are closing the beaches to swimmers because we don't want to tempt fate.'

Some tourists wandered along the beaches to view the sharks through binoculars. Londoner Clive Barker, 28, who was there with his girlfriend, Sue Collins, 25, said: 'It's not often you get a chance to see so many sharks and we'll go back to our hotel pool when we want to swim.'