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For the past two years the Argyll Islands, off the West
Coast of Scotland have had the UK's highest reported sightings
of basking shark. Every summer they are sighted off the west
coast, and we occasionally encounter them on our boat trips.
These huge fish are the third largest fish in the sea.
They feed on plankton, and it is during this activity that
they are seen at the surface during the summer months, and
from this they derive their name. They disappear at other
times of the year, and where they go had been a mystery until
recent scientific studies, using miniaturised computers
attached to the shark's fin, found that they stay in British
waters throughout the winter. They hold the record for the
broadest foraging range of any shark, and make regular
vertical dives to a depth of up to 1000 metres, following
vertical layers of plankton in the water column.
One tagged shark was found to have travelled from the English
Channel to the west coast of Scotland in 2½ months. The
results of the research showed that Basking Sharks are indeed
truly British sharks, and throughout the entire year never
leave our coastal waters.
The harmless basking shark can be readily differentiated from
our other big shark, the porbeagle shark, as you are likely to
see the nose, dorsal fin and tail at the surface at the same
time. |
