Juvenile Basking Sharks on BBC News Online

Craig Whally, a keen kayaker from the Isle of Man took some brilliant pictures of 3 young basking sharks of 3-4m length on Sunday 20th August 2017. His images are so good that the BBC story about them has gone Europe-wide.

This is the second time in a month that Craig and his kayaker friend Shane Stigant have seen juvenile basking sharks in Fleshwick Bay, on the South West of the Isle of Man. Fleshwick is a known hotspot for basking sharks to feed in the summer months of mid-May to Mid to late August.

Basking sharks are normally thought to be about 1.5-1.7m long when they are born but another keen kayaker, Ian Judd, saw one in Peel Bay, Isle of Man last summer that he estimated to be only 1m long.

The presence of young basking sharks of 3-4m such as the ones seen by Craig and Shane are welcome evidence of the continued breeding success of these endangered animals in the Irish Sea. We normally see these juvenile and newborn sharks towards the end of the season.

see Craig’s pictures and story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-40977271.

Also see our Manx Basking Shark Watch Facebook page for all the latest news about basking sharks in Manx waters. https://www.facebook.com/ManxBaskingSharkWatch