In recent years Inishowen has become synominous with sharks of all shapes and tooth size, so much so that many fishermen and boaters have nick named the dramatic stretch of coastline 'shark country'. Blue, Porbeagle and Tope 'catch, tag and release' fishing form a large part of the marine based tourism industry with a number of shark fishing festivals held annually. However of the entire shark family found on the North Donegal coast the Basking shark is the most iconic for the local coastal communities. Growing up to 10m in length and heavier than an African elephant its difficult to miss the basking shark when out on the water or even strolling along one of the many rugged cliffs tops or pure sandy bays that Inishowen offers to the visitor. It is a harmless docile plankton eater with microscopic teeth but it must still be treated with respect in its own environs. In recent years a group of local marine biologists have made a dramatic impact on the International marine scene with pioneering research on the basking shark. This research has raised the profile of the basking shark considerably on the North coast of Donegal and on the Island of Ireland as a whole. Large aggregations of the animals have been seen with up to 100 sharks at the surface at any one time. Breaching is common with particular regularity between Dunaff head, Tullagh point and Ballyliffen beach. Little or nothing is known about these gigantic fish, the largest in the Atlantic and the second largest in the world. The basking shark have famously been characterised by a boom and bust life cycle so if you get the chance to view these magnificent creatures take it, as it might be the last 'showing' during your lifetime.


Viewing
May and June are by far the peak sightings period, with July, August and September good if calm conditions can be encountered. Practically anywhere on the coast is good for watching with headlands such as Dunaff, Malin, Glengad and Inishowen particularly good early in the season. The sharks often come close to shore and even into the numerous small harbours dotted along the coastline. It is not necessary to use optics in the peak sighting periods when sharks often rub off the rocky coast, often only an arms reach away. Boat based viewing is on demand from Culdaff, Rathmullan and Greencastle harbours.

Sunfish and leatherback Turtles can also be encountered by chance on this coastline with Glengad head a particularly good location for sunfish later in the summer months.

Conservation Warning

If you intend to use a vessel to view these magnificent animals please remember to respect them in their own environs. Turn the engine to neutral when within 50m of the animals, maintain a constant speed ( less than 8knots) and direction if in proximity to sharks or you suspect you are in shark waters. Remember for every shark you see on the surface there are usually 4-8 sharks below. If you intend to swim with the sharks please remember to respect the animals in their own envious particularly the tail, which can be a powerful force when diving, or with a sudden change of direction. If you encounter sharks please report the sighting to the Inishowen basking shark project at www.baskingshark.ie


Species profile: Basking shark

Introduction

The Inishowen based basking shark survey is leading the way with Internationally significant scientific research on one of Irelands most iconic marine species, the Basking shark. Since 2008 the locally based team of researchers have deployed over 180 visual tags and numerous archival satellite tags with the aims of uncovering the secrets of the sharks life cycle. A docile plankton eater the basking shark was historically hunted for its oil throughout Irish and Donegal waters, it is still hunted on the open sea's for the Asian soup market where its large fins are used to advertise fin soup menus. The Irish basking shark project, which incorporates numerous research programmes around the country, is collating their research findings with the intention of lobbying the Irish government to enact protective legislation for the species in our territorial waters. Inishowen's local coastal and fishing communities have already taken the Basking shark under their protective wing and their assistance with sighting records and behavioural accounts has helped the scientists to develop new methods of survey and census. If you would like to find out more about the project log onto www.baskingshark.ie

Background to the basking shark in Donegal and Ireland

The basking shark An Liamhán Gréine, Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus) is the second largest fish species in world and the largest in the North Atlantic. It is characterised by a large dorsal fin and docile surface swimming behaviour. As one of only three filter feeding shark species world wide they are regarded as particularly vulnerable to over exploitation due to their slow growth rates, long gestation periods (1-2 years) and late sexual maturity (12-15 years) (Campagno, 1984). These characteristics have led basking sharks to be recently identified as a possible indicator species for climatic change. Due to its conspicuous size, harmless nature and historic associations with indigenous coastal communities the basking shark is also used as a totem shark conservation species.

The basking shark was until recent years a target fishery of International importance in the North-east Atlantic, particularly for Norwegian, Scottish and Irish based fisheries, however since 2007 the basking shark has been subject to a memorandum in E.U. waters (ICES WGEF, 2008). They are protected in most E.U. states territorial waters and Northern Ireland is in the process of legislating for protection (NIEA, 2009). Under the precautionary principle they are listed as endangered in the Northeast Atlantic in ICUN guidelines. Characterised by a well-recorded localised boom and bust cycle its current population trend is unknown (Sims, 2008). The majority of historical records are from basking shark fisheries established for the profitable commerce in its valuable liver oil and fins. Ireland has well documented historic basking shark fisheries (Went, 1967, McNally, 1976, Berrow, 1994 and McGonagle, 2008), however the basking shark is currently a fish species with no special status or legal regulation in Irish territorial waters other than that covered by International legislation.

Donegal has one of the earliest historical descriptions of basking shark hunting in 1739 by Williem Henry in the Bay of Ballyshannon “ …the fishermen, making up on them, strike them with their harpoon irons. Whereupon they dart to the bottom and rolling on the ground, work the harpoon deeper into the wound…” (McGonagle, 2008). Through out the 18th and 19th centuries the Royal Dublin Society provided fishery development grants and subsidised sunfish oil prices. Such was the extent of the fishery that in 1742 the street lights of Dublin, Galway and Waterford shone with ‘sunfish’ oil (McNally, 1976).

For many maritime enthusiasts the shark hunting scenes in the film ‘Man of Arran’ personified traditional subsistence living on Irish coasts during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The description of the 20th Century Achill Island fishery in ‘The Sunfish Hunt’ by Kenneth McNally is regarded as the most significant piece of basking shark fishery documentation published. However to date only three scientific papers have been published on basking sharks in Irish waters (Berrow, 1994, Berrow and Heardman 1994 and Sims, 2002).

The lack of robust population estimates and distribution patterns for the basking shark in any body of water world-wide is the single most limiting factor in the study, conservation and management of basking sharks (Sims, 2008). The numerous methods previously employed to estimate patterns of basking shark abundance and distribution have achieved some understanding of particular behavioural characteristics of basking sharks but fall short in painting a comprehensive picture of the sharks dynamic abundance within a defined area. In spite of this conservation groups in the UK have completed over 11,000 km of vessel based line transects, deployed >30 satellite tags and the Marine Conservation Societies basking shark watch database contains over 10,000 sighting records (Southall et al., 2005). Utilising this survey data the UK and Australia successfully proposed the basking shark to be listed on Appendix II of CITES in 2002. UK governmental bodies and NGO’S are currently developing basking shark Marine Protected Areas and codes of conduct, yet there is still no robust population census for the UK or any International water body.

Recent findings have illustrated the lack of global knowledge on this elusive species. During 2007 a basking shark was tracked by satellite from the Isle of Man, to the coast of Newfoundland, Canada (Gore et al., 2008). This single sharks trans-Atlantic movement coupled with findings on trans-equatorial shark movements in the western Atlantic (Skomal et al., 2009) demonstrate the potential range of individual basking sharks and the possibility of a singular genetic stock within the Atlantic region. These findings are supported by genetic research, which currently suggests little genetic variance in basking sharks through out their global range (Noble, 2006). If true this information would bring heightened conservation responsibility for nations like Ireland with significant populations of basking sharks within their territorial waters.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group sightings database has recorded a steady increase of basking sharks sightings within Irish coastal waters during the past 5 years (IWDG, 2009). In the months of May, June and July of 2006 large numbers of basking sharks were recorded around the coast of Ireland with particular concentrations around Inishowen, Co. Donegal associated with the Islay front. The trend indicates that basking sharks are increasingly coming into contact with the Irish water sports industry. It is unknown if this rise in recorded sightings is due to increased public interaction, an increase in the total or local basking shark population, or an increase in surface utilisation by basking sharks within Irish waters. The lack of scientifically robust data on basking sharks in Irish waters limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the trend and highlights the necessity to address this data vacuum.

In 2009 the Irish basking shark project was founded out of a number of separate research studies and collaboration on high profile media programmes. The group has quickly become world leaders in their chosen elasmobranch field; being the first to deploy visual tags and gain re-sightings, the first to trial and investigate robust census methods, the first to develop a practical slime (DNA) sampling technique and one of the first teams to link shark surfacing occurrence with tidal set and speed. Through their university links with GMIT and QUB the team continue to work on the sharks, with their primary goal the establishment of a robust census method. A robust census method is regarded Internationally as the single most significant limiting factor to the sustainable management and study of the species. They are also working closely with other conservation groups such as The Heritage Council, Manx Shark Watch, Save our Sea's foundation and the Shark Trust in the UK in the development of an individual shark identity catalogue using visual tagging, DNA sampling and Photo I.D.