Nuno Sá - Basking Sharks, Scotland

After a looong drive from London and a fast ferry cruise I finally arrived to my final destination- the Island of Mull – one of Scotland´s best Wildlife destinations.
Although this area is well known for its birdlife, it is it´s Marine life that brought me here: seals, minke whales, dolphins, porpoises and…. my main mission… to encounter the worlds second largest fish - the Basking Shark.

Its Latin name Cetorhinus maximus, Cetorhinus is derived from the Greek, “ketos” meaning a marine monster or whale and “rhinos” which means nose, while the species name maximus is Latin, meaning “great” or “greatest”.

Day 1 – A slow Start… - On my first day on Board the Slow but sturdy Sula Crion, we headed for the small Island of Coll, where just 3 days earlier sharks had been sighted swimming off the white sandy beach of Crossapol Bay. Our captain, James Fairbairns seamed to be an experienced Seaman and a very nice guy, he would latter prove to be an exceptional person, unstoppable, with an almost obsessive dedication in showing Scotland’s Wildlife. For many hours we patrolled the horizon, sometimes stopping for 30 minutes or more, just lingering, waiting, hoping … In one of these breaks I got my first taste of free diving in Scottish waters – 12-13 degrees water, about 5 meters of visibility and… hundreds of Jelly fish glimmering in a slow synchronized dance thru the dim green water. I tried to keep busy with some jelly fish free-dive photography, however after a full 12 hours searching for Sharks, we finally had to give up and head for shore.

Day 2 – SHARK!!! - On our second day out, the sea was like a huge mirror reflecting white clouds and little Islands fading in the horizon … and no Sharks in sight. After about 6 hours exploring the main shark “hotspots” with no results, James swiftly steered North -  “Gut Feeling” - he said with a smile on his face.

A couple of hours latter, the tedious sound of the 300 hp Diesel engine was cut by a piercing scream – SHARK!!! As I mechanically started to get my wetsuit on I could see a massive fin on the horizon cutting the serene surface of the sea. James dropped me off about 50 meters from the giant silhouette and I started swimming towards it, occasionally popping my head out of the water to make sure I was heading in the right direction. After a few minutes I could see a massive shadow in the plankton rich green water, as it slowly swam passed me. I tried to keep up with the fast swimming giant for about 25 minutes but finally had to throw in the towel and give up, as the fin kept getting smaller and smaller in the horizon.

As I floated around waiting for the boat to pick me up I desolately reviewed the few images I was able to capture during my brief encounter. Suddenly I caught a colossal silhouette moving in the corner of my eye, as an 8 meter Basking Shark speeded by less than 1 meter away followed by a second shark passing below me with its mouth wide open. I instinctively fired my camera while the two sharks encircled and swam around me… a few seconds latter they had vanished as fast as they appeared.

During the rest of the day Ruth armed with binoculars sighted about 20 Basking Sharks, some of them very inquisitive passed very close to me with their giant mouth open as they filtered huge amounts of plankton (Basking Sharks feed passively on zooplankton and are thought to be capable of filtering over 1800 tonnes of water per hour). The water in some areas was so rich in zooplankton it would turn brown, the visibility dropping to less than 50cm as if I was suddenly part of a dense cloud of microscopic life forms.

By the end of the day, as we headed back to coast we spotted 3 more sharks less than 100 meters from the Island of Coll, this time I was not alone as Mark Harding and Özgür Gedikoglu entered the water with me. Once again two of these magnificent creatures approached and circled around us at great speed for what seemed an eternity but was no more than 3 or 4 minutes, and then rapidly disappeared. I was amazed on how many different appearances this peaceful giant can take, with his massive mouth open almost rising out of the surface of the water he seems like a gentile creature, but as soon as he closes his mouth and dives his form takes the belligerent look of a white shark.

Day 3 – After 4 hours of sleep (spent dreaming on the day before) I couldn’t be more excited on seeing once again a giant open mouth appear from the dark water and those coal black eyes passing so close you could touch. Another beautiful day in Scotland, conditions are, as yesterday, text book perfect for sighting Basking Sharks. After about 6 hours of searching, both the brown smudge, and the huge dorsal fins in the horizon had vanished, so James decided to take us for a swim with Gray and Common Seals in a small secluded bay surrounded by white sand beaches and small Islands packed with colonies of Birds and Seals. The Seals where a bit too shy to be photographed but the experience was unforgettable.

Day 4 and 5 – Sleeping aboard the Sula Crion and dinning mackerel sandwiches Today we decided to leave a bit latter, to catch the right tide and hoping that at Midday the surface of the water would have warmed and the huge clouds of plankton we had seen on our second day would be back at the surface. However ….shortly after leaving port, we got a report from a research vessel, the Silurian, up to 50 sharks had been spotted North of the Island of Tiree. James put the coordinates into the GPS and… they where 6,5 hours away. “What do you think, too far?” I asked, “Think we’re loosing time, full speed ahead” was his answer.

At 07:30 PM as the light was on the limit of the acceptable for Underwater Photography we reached the area and immediately started seeing huge protruding dorsal fins patrolling the coast, and an occasional shark breaching in the horizon with there whole body out of the water. I immediately jumped in to the water as a inquisitive open mouth basking turned his immense back fin towards the boat.
One hour and three curious sharks latter the Sun was setting in the horizon and we had a 6 hour trip back to port only to have to cover the same distance back tomorrow. However, the relentless Captain James Fairbairns had found a solution; we would set anchor at Tiree Island and spend the night on-board. A few mackerels that Pete and Andy had fished during the day where barbecued on board (they made some excellent mackerel sandwiches) as the sky turned gold and a group of Common Dolphins came to join our trip…unforgettable.
After about as good a night as possible sleeping on the floor of the Sula Crion over two life vests with nothing besides the close on our bodies to warm us, we woke up in the beautiful bay of Gott Beach, borrowed a car to get Diesel from a Garage, and a few hours latter we where heading back for the Basking Shark area. This time we only had the chance to swim with a group of 4 Baskings before we had to start to head back, but as a last Shark aproached I got the shoot I was hoping for, a basking with it’s massive mouth wide open passing so close I had to swim back to keep it in the frame.

As we sailed back and I watched my last sunset in Scottish waters, I could only think how privileged I was to have lived this experience and the great debt I had towards the people that made it possible, James Fairbairns from Sea Life Surveys - our relentless Captain, Mark Harding from Ecua Tours – our Logistics man, and Özgür, Pete and Andy … just bloody good company!

Nuno Sá / Wild Wonders of Europe

Please note that blogs reflect our photographers' opinions and not necessarily those of the directors of Wild Wonders of Europe.