THEY are one of nature’s most feared predators, with chilling tales of killer sharks becoming unnervingly commonplace during the last few months.

Horrific tales have emerged of fatal attacks worldwide, and news that the great white could be lurking in waters far closer to home than we had ever imagined may strike fear into the hardest of hearts.

Yet sharks are, in fact, one of the most threatened species worldwide, and conservation experts everywhere are doing their damnedest to change our views.

Dorset Wildlife Trust is just one organisation doing its best to change our views as it celebrates European Shark Week this month.

The event takes place every year, this year running from October 15 to 23, and aims to protect the conservation of these misunderstood animals.

Overfishing and climate change has left many species teetering on the brink of extinction, with experts estimating that a shocking 70 million sharks are killed worldwide each year.

It may come as something of a shock, but the chilly waters of the UK are actually something of a shark hotspot, with over 30 species calling our shoreline home.

These range from the unsettlingly large but totally harmless basking shark to the diminutive spiny dogfish which, prior to protection, was a former fish and chips staple.

Around half of these species are resident all year. Other such as the blue and the shortfin mako are only found here during the summer months.

But it is the possible presence of a far more notorious species that is again raising the question of whether it really is safe to go back into the water.

Scientist Richard Peirce, chairman of the Shark Trust, has been studying evidence of great whites off the British coast for the past 15 years.

He has investigated 90 possible sightings in that time, 10 per cent of which he believes are viable.

“UK waters are in many respects ideal habitat for white sharks as conditions mirror those found in parts of South Africa, South Australia and California,” he explained.

“In many ways, the real puzzle is not whether we get white sharks in British waters, but why we don’t seem to have a population of any sort.”

The sea temperature here is apparently surprisingly similar to more tropical locations and the UK has a largish seal population, with more than enough to keep even the largest white shark well fed.

But could they pose a risk to bathers?

“There’s never been a recorded instance of a real shark attack in British waters involving any of the species present,” said Mr Peirce.

It is the increasing rarity of the majority of our shark species that is of greatest concern to shark scientists.

Dorset Wildlife Trust marine warden Marc Smith, who has worked with tiger sharks in Australia, said: “Sharks are in real trouble. About 30 per cent of EU and 50 per cent of British shark species are listed as threatened with some critical. They are hunted for meat and caught as by-catch but most are killed simply for their fins.”

For those not put off with the thought of accidentally paddling into Jaws, there is another giant shark out there that is equally as fascinating.

The basking shark is the second largest fish in the sea. Weighing something akin to a bus, they congregate off our Atlantic coast each summer to gorge on blooms of zoo plankton.

The west coast of England, Wales and Scotland boast key spots where these mega-mouthed giants can regularly be seen as they glide though the water with a balletic grace defying their size.