Swimmer gets up close and personal with 15ft basking shark on Cornish beach

Swimmer Lew Smart had an unforgettable close encounter off a Cornwall beach - after getting up-close footage of a huge basking shark.

Lew, 31, was sunbathing at Cornwall's remote Sennen Cove when he spotted a fin gliding through the water.

Instead of scrambling to safety he decided to grab his underwater camera to capture some footage of the 15ft fish.

[No such thing as a free lunch? Cheeky whale sharks help themselves to fisherman's catch]
[Losing his bite, the great white shark who snapped off one of his teeth while attacking a seal]

Lew recognised the massive enormous open mouth of a basking shark - a species that poses no risk to humans and feeds by hoovering up plankton as it swims.

But as Lew dived down the huge creature suddenly came straight at him - and for a few terrifying seconds he feared he would be sucked into its 2ft wide mouth.

Lew kept his nerve and the shark swam past but the frightening moment was captured in his 40 second video.

Fearless Lew, of Sennen, has swam with sharks before and remained in the water observing the fish for 20 minutes.

[Fishmonger causes outrage by boasting about selling endangered thresher shark]
[Wedding joy for pro surfer who had arm bitten off by shark as a teenager]

He said: 'We get basking sharks quite frequently just off the beach in Sennen.

'After I saw it about 30 metres out I decided to jump in the sea as I thought it would be quite cool to have a swim with it.

'It came pretty close to me - at one point it came towards me with its mouth wide open. I wasn't scared but adrenaline was definitely going.

'I have spent most of my life out in the ocean surfing. I have been that close before but on a surf board.

'It was just cruising around, it wasn't moving too much and didn't seem phased by me.

'I swam with it for around 20 minutes, I had to get out after a while as I was just in shorts and was getting cold.'

The footage comes after leading experts declared the best start to basking shark season in living memory, with dozens of sightings along the Cornish coast.

Basking sharks tend to swim deep in the ocean but from May to October they come to the surface to feed on plankton blooms.

The harmless fish - which can reach lengths of up to 36ft - are the largest fish found in British waters and the second largest shark species.

They are known for their large dorsal fin and for swimming with open mouths which can be as much as 3ft wide.