The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has identified 4 key hotspots of basking shark activity around the UK, based on 15 years of research provided by divers, fishermen, sailors and coastal walkers.

Basking sharks may be the world's second largest fish, reaching 11m in length, but information about their activities is hard to come by. The enormous plankton-eating sharks have recently been protected by law after being virtually fished to extinction.

The MCS launched a Basking Shark Watch project in 1987, enlisting members of the public to report sightings with the aim of monitoring the numbers and movements of the sharks. Over 4,000 sightings of almost 17,000 sharks were reported. The results of the research are published today, identifying South West England, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Arran in Scotland and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland as key UK hotspots for basking shark activity.

The most active area for basking shark activities is the seas around Cornwall, Devon and the Channel Islands, with over half the reported sharks spotted in this area.

The research is the most definitive study of basking shark activity ever completed, and because it is important that the flow of information continue, divers are asked to carry on making reports of sightings so that the fate of the basking sharks can be monitored.

Sighting report cards for basking sharks and posters promoting the scheme are available from MCS, or sightings can be reported online at their website

A 6-page Summary report is available free, copies of the full 35-page report are available at £12.50 each incl. p&p, from the Marine Conservation Society - Tel: 01989 566017.


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Marine Conservation Society

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