Scotland’s Inner Hebrides is fertile water for spotting stunning sealife
MORE than 700 basking sharks were spotted in and around the Inner Hebrides this year and an Oban- based company was at the forefront of the sightings.
The majority of the sharks were seen near Mull, Coll and Tiree by Basking Shark Scotland, Oban.
Shane Wasik, who owns the company, said: ‘ Seeing a shark up close is pretty amazing.
‘ We see most of our sightings around Coll, which is our favourite spot. The water is really clear and the beaches are nice. It’s lovely up that way.
‘ The best day we had was when we had a group out on a really nice day and we saw around 30 sharks. Then, that night, we took another group out and watched the sunset at Tiree. It was just amazing.’ The basking shark is the second largest fish in the world, after only the whale shark, and can grow up to 11 metres in length.
These colossal creatures feed only on microscopic plankton, which they gather with their massive mouths that act like nets.
But Basking Shark Scotland, which operates snorkelling and diving tours from Oban, Mull and Coll, don’t just see sharks – more than 1,000 cetaceans – whales, dophins and porpoise – were also recorded this year and one leatherback turtle.
Mr Wasik added: ‘ This year we also saw a leatherback turtle for the first time, which was super exciting, as the chance of seeing them here is very rare. No one had a camera and by the time we went and got one it had gone under the water and nobody knew how long they were able to hold their breath for.
‘ We were all Googling it, and then saw that they were able to hold their breath for 90 minutes.
‘ We waited for it to come back up, but didn’t see it again. But it was special to see that.’
To find out more or to book a tour, visit: www.baskingsharkscotland.co.uk.