Just finished a season out with the basking sharks off the Isle of Coll, the Inner Hebrides. Vittoria Correale came to volunteer with us from Venice and she was wonderful, loving the outdoors as much as we do. Thank goodness, as there is plenty of it on Coll! Shane Wasik organised an evening at the community centre, Coll of the Sharks, and Doug Anderson, Lili Lieber and I gave talks and discussed basking sharks with the enthusiastic people of Coll. Pete and Jill Coleshaw were so generous in allowing us to stay in their cottage, sheltering from some of the dramatic storms, while Caroline and Innes Henderson, and Barabara and Mick Payne were as hospitable as ever, adding to the magic of Coll.
The large sharks were few and far between this season but there were no really wee ones. The sharks put on magnificent displays, breaching more frequently than anyone can remember. And that is some sight when a 5-8 m (15-24 ft) shark jumps out of the water completely, you are not likely to forget the spectacle. Vittoria is working with us on photo-identification of the basking sharks, sorting and matching images of the first dorsal fin to see if we can recognise the shark from a different time or location. This is proving to be very successful and allowing us to calculate a population size for the area, knowledge much needed for conservation management. Have a look at the clip from the new BBC series “Hebrides: Islands on the Edge” to see how incredible the basking sharks are: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p019971z
The large sharks were few and far between this season but there were no really wee ones. The sharks put on magnificent displays, breaching more frequently than anyone can remember. And that is some sight when a 5-8 m (15-24 ft) shark jumps out of the water completely, you are not likely to forget the spectacle. Vittoria is working with us on photo-identification of the basking sharks, sorting and matching images of the first dorsal fin to see if we can recognise the shark from a different time or location. This is proving to be very successful and allowing us to calculate a population size for the area, knowledge much needed for conservation management. Have a look at the clip from the new BBC series “Hebrides: Islands on the Edge” to see how incredible the basking sharks are: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p019971z