European sharks?

Hello All,

I am developing a project that will feature the lifestyles of one species of shark that lives in the waters surrounding each of the northern six continents. I could use some help coming up with the best one that comes from European waters and that are relatively easily accessible. I'm not afraid of cold water. Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot,

chris

Basking Sharks off the Isle of Man (Between England and Ireland) in the Summer, pretty reliable.

Thanks for the reply Scuba SI! When do you consider summer? Are there charter boats available that regularly take people out to see them? What kind of visibility can be expected

cw

Thanks for the reply Scuba SI! When do you consider summer? Are there charter boats available that regularly take people out to see them? What kind of visibility can be expected

 

cw

The 'season' runs from may to september, i have never tried to see them, but i hear it can be quite reliable. Viz will be poor, but it's quite an interesting place so you could supplement the story with other things if the sharks are hiding....

I'm not sure what they are doing with the Marine Biology station there now it has closed, they might have been able to give you more info.

I will see if i can find my old lecturers email address and ask.....

It's called the Marine Conservation Society Basking Shark Watch run by Manx Wildlife Trust.

The local boat guy I used was Bob Taylor who runs a boat named Jemini or something(can't remember). This info is from 2000 so things may have changed. You can do a google search. I found Bob through contacts but he's apparently listed with the tourist board of IoM.

I went in July. Viz was crap, so bad that I was swallowed by a shark(dry suit snorkelling is really stupid. If I remember correctly, the researchers said June had higher hit rates and better viz. But I'd rather be at the sardine run in June

Good luck with your project. Oh and have a topside camera, I saw one do a head slap of sorts (whale terminology) and apparently it has been observed "breaching".

I saw a basker breach last summer, but despite literally years of trying I've still not managed to get any footage of them in the water let alone breaching!! On a semi positive note for anyone who wants to try I've been told many times 'ah you should have been here yesterday there were 10 of them at the surface for 3 hours!'.

When they are around it's usually because of the plankton bloom so vis is therefore not ideal. I've only attempted so far at various spots in Cornwall, where I will be trying again this year (fingers crossed!), but the IoM is about the best place you can rely on them turning up. Most 'production' filming goes there for the best odds.

Good luck with your project!!

Cheers, Simon

Ah the Cornish Porth Kerris trap! Oh how many have fallen for it. I went there first since there was good surfing in the area. After a week of waiting around and surfing, I finally got a phonecall from the dive shop and the mad rush out to see the sharks. Then all the boats go nuts over the sharks and scare them off. I couldn't get one clean shot of the shark without some snorkeller in its face or something. Ne'er again!

IoM has surfing of all kinds, wind and kite are best there. And the best thing are the roads esp the A18. Oh and don't hire a car on IoM... they be thrashed from drivers hitting the A18, which by the way has a speed limit of 160mph on the TT course.

Once this was high on my list of to-dos. I think my mind is changing quickly...

Watch out for the inbred chicks Shawn...

You could try angel sharks in the Canary islands, one of the two best places in the world for them. There is a couple of biologist studying them now and collecting sightings from all of the divers...

Watch out for the inbred chicks Shawn...

I think Mike's hormones are acting up again. Actually I met a purdy girl in Cornwall... she was from Brazil.

You could try angel sharks in the Canary islands, one of the two best places in the world for them. There is a couple of biologist studying them now and collecting sightings from all of the divers...

Not to be nit picky but even if they are european territories, aren't the canaries more african in geographical position than european?

Not to be nit picky but even if they are european territories, aren't the canaries more african in geographical position than european?

Yes they are!! the thing is that, since they are Spain, people tend to consider them Europe (whatever that means! )

I think Mike's hormones are acting up again. Actually I met a purdy girl in Cornwall... she was from Brazil.

Cornwall is not the Isle of Man... don't you ever watch The Fast Show?

Drew Wong...

"He knows to much"..."Toooo Much"

Dive safe

DeanB

Yes they are!! the thing is that, since they are Spain, people tend to consider them Europe (whatever that means! )

Yes the same reasoning why the french tested nuclear bombs in the south pacific... because the islands are considered french. I have found memories of the Canaries though so I prefer the big mammals in the Azores, so hopefully no nuclear testing will go on around there.

Mike, here we are talking about basking sharks and you go on about inbred chicks in Cornwall. Oh you were referring to IoM? Did you not know that Nigel Mansell parties(use to) in IoM and he doesn't party with inbred chicks! FAR from it.

And it's because Mike is talking about chicks again that I know his hormones are getting island fever. It's logical deduction Dean. Actually no... it's just Mike.

I, unfortunately, agree with Drew that the Canaries are Africa and the project is fairly geographically and geologically specific. I just, instinctively, like the idea of the warm, clear waters of the southern North Atlantic better than The Isle of Man. Maybe if it were called the Isle of Woman it may have a better ring to it.

Any other European shark species in nice warm places? I’ll accept the Azores as Europe.

What kind of time commitment would I need to be safe on the IoM. Ten days enough? The whole thing needs to wrapped up by early July. Anybody want to go?

Thanks for the replies.

cw

I'm not really sure where i'll be by the summer, but if i'm around i'll come along! I have all my captains tickets so might even be able to hire a boat.

I haven't heard of anywhere else in Europe with reliable shark encounters. Maybe there is somewhere for blues or mako, but i think you have more chance of seeing those off the states.

If you are feeling lucky.....

29 September 2004

One of the most extraordinary shark tales involved the discovery of a tropical Oceanic White-tip Shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, that had badly lost its way and was discovered swimming around a warship in a brackish water fjord near Gullmarsfjorden in west Sweden. It died shortly afterwards. The shark, a male, was 230 cm long, (total length), and weighed 65.65 kg. This is the first record in northern European seas and it has never been discovered around the British coast. A Swedish Museum in Gothenburg has now the shark for further examination.

If you can bend the rules you could go for Orcas in Norway!

Just for curiosity, what are your choices for the other locations?

Mike, here we are talking about basking sharks and you go on about inbred chicks in Cornwall. Oh you were referring to IoM? Did you not know that Nigel Mansell parties(use to) in IoM and he doesn't party with inbred chicks! FAR from it.

Are you sure you've been there Drew? The characters from deliverance would fit in quite well!! Oh, and i would think the Mansell groupies have left by now, i hear Monaco has a bit nicer weather...

Simon I admit I brought my own groupie and didn't pay much attention to local lass. I did try to work on my manx in the spare time between the pumps (while we gently broke in my mate's new car), surfing and snorkelling like a madman in a drysuit. Funny enough I don't remember much of the island but I remember more than a few curves in the mountain section. :shrug: As for the Mansells, you should've seen the bird Leo Mansell had. Monaco is overrated for inbred chicks.

IOnature, if your deadline is July, then you'd be cutting it close since June is purportedly the best month for the sharks. I spent 9 days, had 2 days of sharks in water and topside 4. I saw a total of 3 different sharks I could recognize according to my notes. This was apparently a good showing. It may have been 4 as the fourth one tried to swallow me and I didn't really make it round to see his markings. I've given you the boat guy so good luck in that if you go.

Yup Drew, as you can imagine, my stress level is a little high. If I can come up with something else, I will, even if it's not as dramatic. Maybe I'll look you guys up at the sardine run in South Africa b/c I'll be down there then for the whities. I know what you are thinking, "schedule sounds a little tight", and that is why I would like to find a european shark with a little more flexability.

The other species that I will be featuring are:

N. America - Bull

S. America - Hammerhead

Africa - White

Asia - Reef

Australia - Whale

Europe - ????

There maybe some lumping for convenience (i.e. reef). This is a loose nit plan but it is getting tighter by the day. I'm sort of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of guy.

Simon- it would be great to have you aboard, someone who speaks the language and all.