The trip sailed from Neyland marina, not far from Milford Haven, and travelled approximately 12 nautical miles south west out to sea.

On the way those on board were able to take in stunning views of the Welsh coastline and have a go at fishing for mackerel to use as bait to attract the blue sharks.

During the trip, Carwyn Jones, caught a female blue shark, which was 81.5 inches in length and weighed approximately 63 lbs. En route the party spotted two pods of dolphins and 2 Minke whales.

Carwyn Jones commented of the experience, "The shark tagging trip gave me the opportunity to experience some practical marine science at first hand and to see the important role that sea users can play in increasing our knowledge of the marine environment," he added.

Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru said: "The lack of information on blue sharks in UK waters is precisely what encouraged WWF to support the UK shark tagging programme. The aim of the project is to contribute towards the protection of UK shark species, by encouraging a catch and release responsible scheme."

"The tagging is a simple yet effective way to monitor shark movements. We have learnt that sharks tend to travel long distances and a high proportion of specimens tagged off our coasts are in most cases caught again by Spanish, Portuguese and sometimes even Japanese commercial fishing fleets," he added.

When a shark is tagged all its vital statistics are carefully noted on a card including its length, weight, sex, species, condition along with the location, tidal and weather state. Captured locations are kept confidential and only issued to the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton who co-ordinate the tagging scheme. When the shark is caught again, usually by fishermen, the individual number on the tag will be returned along with its location.