Swimmers down at Exiles in Sliema yesterday seemed to believe the claim of windsurfer David Bonavia - that he was circled by a shark on Saturday off Fort St Elmo and it bit his sail. Perhaps worried by a separate sighting of a big fish off Exiles that same day, they told Nikki Abela Mercieca that the police should have raised the alarm, although most were not put off from taking a dip.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the police said that they were constantly inundated by sightings of large fish that turned turn out to be false alarms. That was why a statement was not issued about the alleged shark attack on Saturday.

"It is not worth alarming people," the spokesman said.

The Armed Forces of Malta are carrying out patrols in the areas where the fish was sighted. No more reports of sightings came in yesterday.