The Hebrides is still the best place in the world for sighting basking sharks
Basking Shark Scotland (BSS), based in Oban recorded 250 individual basking shark sightings last year, despite many places in the UK recording their lowest numbers in many years. The sightings ranged from Caithness to Dumfries & Galloway, but the highest concentration of sightings were recorded in the Hebrides.
BSS says this demonstrates that the Hebrides is still the best place in the world for sighting basking sharks.
The company uses tourism to assist with conducting citizen science on the basking shark population, and works alongside university researchers and provide data to them along with their public submissions.
The BSS sightings are a mixture of public submissions and their own sightings. The largest number spotted in one shoal on one day was over 30 individuals and occurred during a large summer plankton bloom. Although public sightings submissions had dropped by a third in 2014, BSS sightingsincreased by 23% compared to 2013
BSS encourage the public to get involved with spotting the sharks as the more people that can record them from different areas, the better the data is for the scientists studying their movements. During their expeditions, their marine biologist staff collect a large amount of data on the sharks including gender, length, location, bodily features for future identification and any specific behaviour such as breaching.
The basking shark is the second-largest living fish, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating sharks, the others being the whale shark and megamouth shark.
Basking Shark Scotland encourages the public to submit their own sightings at http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk/scottish-basking-shark-sightings/
We thought the itinerary was well chosen for a varied experience. While sailing near the coastline, the scenery was fabulous of course. When out of sight of land, we were all more intent on spotting birds & cetaceans & Rob was always keen to slow down & manoeuvre to give us the best possible view Some of the landings were a little tricky but all well worth it & we all eventually mastered the art of donning life jackets & boarding the tender. Rob always managed to find us sheltered anchorages, often with views of white-tailed eagles & seals. His local knowledge meant that he could amend the itinerary to suit weather conditions. Although we were unable to land on the Flannan Isles as planned, Rob added in a visit to the Shiants, which more than made up for it. Lynsey has a huge knowledge of wildlife & geology & an amazing ability for spotting cetaceans at a distance. Craig always got us ashore safely & used his experience of the area so suggest suitable walks. For anyone who loves Scotland, has an interest in wildlife, enjoys good food & has even an average amount of fitness & mobility, I’d say “Go for it but make sure you pack clothing for all weathers!"
Jeff Bamforth: 15 June 2021Far-flung islands: Harris, Taransay & the Flannan Isles