Thursday 6 June 2013

Scottish Basking Sharks are back!

There are four places to see basking sharks with any kind of certainty in the UK - Cornwall in the south, Malin Head in Ireland, and the Isle of Man. The fourth, and in my own mind without doubt, the best place to see Basking Sharks is Scotland, especially the inner hebrides. Since 2009 I have been running a dedicated basking shark trip, based in Tobermory, partnering with locally established marine wildlife watching outfit - Sealife Surveys. We have recently returned from our first trip of 2013 - which was a mixed wildlife itinerary. This trip consisted of the various other wildlife that can be found in the area - such as otters, eagles, and the impressive sea bird colony on Lunga. This was also the first trip that we tried out as a liveaboard based itinerary, and what a pleasure it was too - no hefty trips home each night with this beast. 4am sunrises and dusk landings were all possible due to us staying right on site. This also allowed us to go a little further in search of our sharks, which due to the cold weather and late spring, were a little harder to find than normal - but find them we did, with footage to boot. So - it is with great anticipation, having now seen sharks in good numbers in the area, that we await the onset of our main block of back to back trips. We can still make room for one or two amongst our warm and friendly groups - so let us know if you are keen to join. We do already have one or two bookings for 2014 already so advanced bookings are advised, especially for groups. Footnote - Like all great ideas, we knew it wouldn't be long before someone came along and began to offer an alternative service. Whilst we crept along gently over the last few years, growing the customer base in a responsible and organic manner, it seems a face book frenzied commercially driven effort is coming from new operators, and we sincerely hope this does not impact on the sharks in a negative way. Whatever happens, we will continue to bring you responsible, comfortable, fun and unforgettable basking shark experiences from Scotland.