How & Where

The southern and southwestern coast of the Isle of Man is probably the best place in the world to watch basking sharks close inshore but you do need a few little hints. There are people who live on the Isle of Man who have never seen a shark! They soon would if they read this section.

When watching for basking sharks you need to know when and where to look for the best chances of success. The short answer is

Recent sightings are a good clue to where sharks will be. There are two ways to get the latest information about basking shark sightings:

On the Isle of Man of course! It is a basking shark hotspot AND the sharks tend to be close to shore. Of all our sightings reports 2005-2008 a whopping 64% were within 1km of shore!

Map of the Basking Shark Sightings 1987-2003 for UK, Isle of Man and Ireland. Data from the Marine Conservation Society Basking Shark Watch

The MCS Basking Shark Watch Project found that basking shark sightings were very high on the Isle of Man, compared to the rest of British waters, especially considering the relatively small length of the coastline. They also found that shoal sizes were larger on the Island than elsewhere.

Manx Basking Shark Watch has been collecting your public sightings reports of basking sharks every year since 2005. We consistently find basking sharks sightings to be located on the South and Southwest coast of the isle of Man.

MBSW public sightings 2008

Map of Basking Shark Sightings MBSW 2008 for Isle of Man

The map of the Isle of Man shows that although basking shark sightings occur Island-wide they are more common on the Southwest and West coast starting from from Castletown and working clockwise around the Island, off the Chasms and Spanish Head, around the Calf of Man, Bradda Head, Port Erin, Fleshwick Bay and Northwards up the west coast towards Peel. The coast from Niarbyl Bay past Dalby, Glen Maye, behind Peel Hill and off Peel Castle, Peel breakwater and Peel headlands can be excellent areas to see basking sharks when they are here in any numbers. These places are areas of high plankton concentration so basking sharks congregate there.

This shark was off Fleshwick Bay, the Isle of Man.
Picture: Pauline Oliver

High plankton concentrations occur where ocean fronts are close inshore off headlands and islands, and in bays where tidal slacks occur. Local scuba divers say that one of the best times to see basking sharks is on the flood tide at Niarbyl where the tidal flow streaming from the south meets the calm water of Niarbyl Bay. It is possible to see basking sharks from most of these sites whether you are on the cliffs or in a boat.

A close encounter from a boat off Niarbyl, the Isle of Man. Please observe the Basking Shark Code, the engine must be in neutral or preferably switched off. The engine might disturb the sharks and there is a danger that the shark might get hurt by the propeller!
Picture: Shane Stigant.

The Marine Conservation Society Basking Shark Watch Project has shown that shoal sizes were largest in the Northwest. This is not evident from the map. The biggest shoal was 100 sharks off Jurby head in July 1991.

If you are lucky you may see a shark basking or feeding with its enormous mouth agape. The first sign of a shark is its large dorsal fin showing above the surface of the water. If the water is clear and it is a calm day, you might see the white mouth as it feeds just under the surface of the water. This is particulary likely if you are seeing the animal from above, from a boat or a cliff-top.

The first sign of a basking shark is normally its dorsal fin. You can also see the white mouth in this picture.

Picture: Pauline Oliver

If you are really lucky you may see a group of shark engaged in courtship behaviour such as following one another closely, circling or breaching. See the section on reproduction and courtship for some pictures of these behaviours.

Even if you don't see a single shark you will definitely have seen seals, sea birds and some of the most beautiful coastline in the world, so it will be good fun trying!

Look for tidal fronts. If you look off headlands or off the mouth of a bay on a calm day you might see oily, sometimes frothy, slicks in the water. These tidal fronts occur where a warm water body meets a cooler one. Plankton concentrates here and so if you can identify a tidal front you should concentrate your binoculars here. Basking sharks often feed in zig-zags through these plankton rich tidal fronts. At the base of Bradda Head the plankton sometimes piles up under the cliffs and a 'vortex' of plankton occurs. This means that the sharks swim in circles and zig zags through the rich plankton. The same happens on the Port Erin side of the Sound, near Kitterland where the currents swirl around and concentrate the plankton.

Look for large seabirds called gannets diving into the water. This is a powerful indicator that basking sharks might be nearby. This is because if you see many of them diving in they are after small fish at the surface. The small fish are after the same plankton that the basking sharks are wanting.

Look for flashes on the water: The almost black dorsal fin of the basking shark is very flexible. If it is a sunny day the sun reflects off the fin like a flashing mirror. Watch for this.

It is a common occurrence to hear keen observers pointing excitedly at birds, seals, scuba divers, lobster pots, dolphins, whales or boats and shouting that they have spotted a basking shark. Shags and cormorants are the worst. When they put their wings up a characteristic cry is "It's a sha-----ag": tends to go up. This might cause amusement but it can be rather frustrating!

Looking at the picture below you could be forgiven for thinking that it is a shark fin BUT if you look at the next picture you can see that it is a seal. Seals often bob upright in the water whilst resting. It is called 'bottling because they look a bit like a bottle bobbing around in the water.

This picture of a minke whale was taken off the east coast near Dhoon Glen. The animals is much larger than a basking shark and the fin is much smaller in relation to the body size: Photo by John Donnelly.

This Risso's dolphin could be mistaken for a basking shark fin from a distance. Rissos photographed off Marine Drive Douglas. We DO get basking sharks there but very rarely and only at the very beginning of the season. Photo by John Donnelly.

But this Risso's dolphin could not really be mistaken for a basking shark because basking shark leaps are far less elegant than this! Photo by John Donnelly.

We also get some very charming small harbour porpoise, just over a meter long. On flat clam days you might see a fleeting glimpse of a small triangular dorsal fin slipping just above the water surface. Here are some charming pictures of a mother harbour porpoise and her baby taken on the Port Erin side of the Sound June 2009 by Carol Manzi. Well done Carol, they are really hard to photograph.

This is another harbour porpoise taken on the same day, also by Carol. Yes, it's a fin, yes it's dark BUT it's too small, too quick and bending the wrong way to be a basking shark! Basking sharks tend to bend and flex side to side, porpoises, whales and dolphins have arched backs.

Happy Watching and don't forget to report your sighting and send us your photos!

How When & Where to Find Basking Sharks