Basking shark returns to Scotland's shores

BRITAIN'S largest fish - the gigantic basking shark - has returned to the west coast of Scotland with a vengeance, according to environmentalists, who recorded a group of 20 in the waters off the island of Coll.

The group was recorded on Friday between Clabbach and Gallanach by Simon Wellock for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. Together with another group of 20 recorded on 11 June at Hyskeir near Canna, it is the largest congregation of basking sharks recorded in Scotland this year.

The west coast is one of the best places to see basking sharks, the second largest fish in the world - which were once hunted by Ring Of Bright Water writer Gavin Maxwell around Skye.

In Gunna Sound between the islands of Coll and Tiree and the sea around the islands of Canna and Hyskeir, four times as many basking sharks have been recorded per hour of survey than anywhere else in the UK.

The report, published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), identified the hot spots from the consistently high numbers of the filter feeders seen at the surface, often in large groups.

On one occasion in July 2006, some 83 sharks were recorded round Canna, with the highest daily tally round Coll in August 2005, with 94 sightings.

Frequent displays of courtship-like behaviour, including breaching - where the shark leaps clear of the water - suggests that both areas are important for sharks looking for a mate.

The basking shark (Cetorhinus Maximus) was once hunted for its oil and meat in Scotland. Scottish writer Maxwell set up a basking shark fishery off the west coast and wrote his first book - Harpoon At A Venture - about how he disastrously hunted the great fish. The giant fish had all but disappeared from Britain's seas at the turn of the 20th century before coming back in vast numbers in the 1930s. They were so common that the then Scottish Office even ordered the deliberate ramming of the species in 1937 to control its numbers. Unlike whales they do not communicate acoustically so it is very hard to monitor them. Basking sharks can grow up to 11m in length and seven tonnes in weight.