WHERE ARE OUR SUMMER BASKING SHARKS:DISCUSS!
You may have noticed that it’s half way through the Manx basking shark season and that there are NO SHARKS!
Shark sightings in 2018 and 2019 were very low but this year is the worst since Manx Basking Shark Watch started researching basking sharks in 2005.
We would normally expect to have lots of basking sharks sighings from the end of May until the beginning of August. We have had FOUR, yes 4 reported sightings this season.
There are many reasons why this could be. Here are a few ideas for everyone to think about and discuss on the Manx Basking Shark Watch Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/ManxBaskingSharkWatch/
- Natural variation from year to year.
- Not enough of the plankton they like to eat.
- The water is too warm or too cold.
- Climate change.
- They don’t like all the human activity in the Irish Sea so they’ve gone somewhere else.
- They’ve all been accidentally caught in fishing nets.
- They don’t like the electromagnetic signals from the underwater Western High Voltage DC Cable that was activated a couple of years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_HVDC_Link. There’s a map of it here http://www.awjmarine.co.uk/fishery-liaison/western-high-voltage-dc-cable/
DISCUSS!
