Visitor favourite
Happily, hunters of a different kind now seek out the sharks. They’ve become a key element in Scotland’s vibrant ecotourism industry, highly popular with visitors and film crews from around the world. Therefore, commercial ecotourism operators are now encouraged to attend ‘WiSe’ training courses (
www.wisescheme.org), which recommend safe and sustainable methods of shark watching. The courses promote use of the
Scottish MarineWildlifeWatching Code (see
www.marinecode.org/ scottish-marine-code-g.asp), with specific advice on being aware of shark activity around the hotspot sites. SNH have developed leaflets and water-resistant maps aimed at pleasure craft that might visit these highly important sites. They have simple recommendations on keeping a careful look-out and safe speed, for the safety of not only the shark but also the boats and people on board. So, history has now turned
full circle.We can still enjoy the remarkable sight of a huge shoal of these leviathans off the west coast of Scotland, and close to the site where they were first exploited. And thanks to the conservation measures that are in place, we can have some assurance that this will always be the case, with future generations still being able to enjoy the basking shark where it rightfully belongs.
Rough guide to basking sharks
The basking shark is the second largest fish in the world, after the whale shark. It can reach up to 12m in length and 7 tonnes in weight, so it’s as big as a bus!
It’s found in all the world’s temperate oceans. This is the biggest wild animal to visit Britain regularly, but it’s slow moving and harmless to humans.
Recent satellite tracking research has shown that the shark generally moves in to deeper water during winter, although tagged basking sharks have also made long-distance migrations into unexpected areas.
In one case, a shark tagged near the Isle of Man crossed the North Atlantic, surfacing off Newfoundland. And in another study, a shark tagged off Florida in the United States moved to the south, crossing the equator off Brazil.
Basking sharks feed mainly on millions of tiny shrimp called plankton. As the shark swims along, seawater passes through its huge mouth and leaves through five gill arches, where the energy-rich prey is filtered out. They’re thought to be capable of filtering over 1,800 tonnes – enough to fill a swimming pool – of water per hour!
Canna Coll
They can travel on their own, but they’re social animals and form groups, usually in small numbers (three or four) but sometimes having up to 50 or even 100 individuals.
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If you see a basking shark, you can report your sighting at www.
mcsuk.org/sightings/ baskingshark.php
www.snh.gov.uk
Basking sharks are slow to reproduce, with males maturing at around 15 years of age (5.5–7 metres) and females at around 18 to 20 years (8–9 metres). After a gestation period of up to 18 months, five or six live ‘pups’ of around 1.4–1.6 metres are born. They may live for up to 50 years.
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