Shark Staycations
A rise in staycations during summer 2020 has meant many holiday’s have taken place at UK beaches instead of foreign ones. The UK has some of the most stunning coastline so why wouldn’t this be a great option for the long term even after Covid?
Add in record sunshine hours for the UK, the gulf stream, crystal clear turquoise shallows, white sand and head North. To an island off the West coast of Scotland, the Hawaii of the North, the Isle of Tiree… but be prepared to share your swim with the second largest shark in the world.
Basking sharks are between 6-8 metres long and swim close to the shore to feed. Fortunately for us British holidaymakers they prefer the taste of zooplankton to pale n pasty British legs (don’t worry a few well-timed, weeks on Tiree will improve the tan.)
In early August 2012 a wildlife survey boat, commissioned by SPR, went out to the Isle of Tiree and nearby Skerryvore Lighthouse to find out more about these huge sharks.
Over two days, an unprecedented and incredible thing happened…
918 basking sharks were recorded around the Isle of Tiree, Scotland
(This made Tiree one of the world’s hot spot’s for basking sharks.)
An extract from the SMRU Ltd: Basking Sharks Draft Chapter for Environmental Statement. These are the number of surveys of basking sharks over a 4 year period. Details of how surveying techniques have improved quality of data, so the numbers of basking sharks recorded have increased but this may be due to more accurate surveys rather than an increase in basking sharks from 2009 to 2012. They’ve probably always been there, we just haven’t been looking properly!
SPR made this presentation after their 2012 summer basking shark survey which recorded, over a weekend, 918 basking sharks, within the proposed Array.
www.no-tiree-array.org.uk
Basking Sharks Facts
Species Name: Cetorhinus Maximus
Length: 6-8 metres (Adult)
Weight: 5200kg
Conservation Status: Vunerable. In 1993 it was reported that the global population had dropped by 80% since 1950’s..
Habitat: Found in artic and temperate waters
Feeding: Filters 2000 tonnes of seaswater per hour
Lifespan: Estimated 50 years
Historically basking sharks have been hunted for their oil, meat fins and vitamin rich livers. All cetaceans and basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are afforded legal protection under the Wildlife and Conservation Act, 1981 and this protection was further enhanced by the Nature Conservation Act (Scotland) 2004. Under Schedule 6 of this Act the intentional killing, capture or disturbance of cetaceans or basking sharks is prohibited out to 12nm around the coast of Great Britain. Today the only countries still hunting them are China and Japan.
Basking sharks are slow growing and slow to reach sexual maturity. Data reviewed in Sims et al (1997) show basking sharks are estimated to reach 5m in length when 3-4 years old, and reach sexual maturity at approximately 5-9m long (age 8-15 years). It is not known to what maximum length this species can grow, though a range of 10-12 metres has been estimated (Sims 2008).
In 1943 a pregnant female basking shark was caught off Norway and observed to give birth to six pups measuring 1.5-2m prior to capture (Cited in Sims 2008.) So much is unknown about mating and birth of basking sharks which suggests they remain offshore in deep water and out of sight.
Courtship behaviour has been recorded in UK waters during summer months and has been speculated as one of the behaviours displayed around Tiree. Courtship behaviours include nose to tail following, close following, close flank approach, parallel and echelon swimming - this all sounds familiar when you think about how a group of basking sharks behave in Gunna.
The ‘wonderful fish’ described in Harper’s Weekly on 24 October 1868 was likely the remains of a basking shark.
On Tiree basking sharks can be spotted easily from the shore on a calm day. The nose protrudes as they feed, followed by a large dorsal fin and then tail - three black triangles, the middle dorsal the biggest by far, from a distance. I remember seeing about 12 basking sharks in Balephuil bay a few years ago, from standing on the dunes it was easy to see their whole bodies swimming in the bay as the water was so clear and still.
If you want to get closer still, take a boat (www.tireeseatours.co.uk), or SUP (stand up paddle board) or kayak (www.blackhouse-watersports.co.uk) and head to Gunna, at the east end of Tiree. It goes without saying and most nature lovers don’t need to be told, but it can be easy in the excitement to try to get within touching distance. No animal likes to be overcrowded and remember they do have a very powerful tail if they feel threatened. That said a close encounter with an 8 meter shark is always going to take your breath away. In my opinion its a great wonder of the West coast of Scotland.
Humpback whale watching in Maui, Hawaii was an experience forever imprinted in my travel memories, friends of mine have swum with dolphins in Florida... but being surrounded by 10 enormous basking sharks in Gunna, Isle of Tiree with my young kids in total awe as they cruised quietly past our boat, the only boat there… now that’s going to take some beating.
Incredible British wildlife is on our doorstep, is it time to discover what’s right under our nose?