Wherezzat

[MM5AHO]

 

[Mark-1]

South of Mull?

 

[DaveS]

Is that the Ardnamurchan peninsula from the western entrance to the S of M?

I saw a basking shark on Sunday just like that one: low in the water with the tail fin not visible. It passed only a few feet away and the white of its gaping mouth could be clearly seen underwater.

 

[MM5AHO]

Yes Ardnamurchan in background. This was just west of Cairns of Coll - a group of about 10 basking sharks seen there. One raised its tail right out of the water - never seen that before.

Amazing how there's always someone recognises a spot from few clues.

 

[dunedin]

Seemed to be loads of basking sharks around there this year, when we were up a few weeks back. We saw 20 in total, mostly around Canna but also quite a few in the entrance to the Sound of Mull, oblivious to the hoards of boats nearby

 

[oldbilbo]

Seemed to be loads of basking sharks around there this year, when we were up a few weeks back. We saw 20 in total, mostly around Canna but also quite a few in the entrance to the Sound of Mull, oblivious to the hoards of boats nearby

Now that Gavin Maxwell is pushing up the daisies at Camusfearna, by the Allt Mhor Shantaig, and his old boilers on Soay are about rusted away, they're making a very slow comeback.

 

[dunedin]

Now that Gavin Maxwell is pushing up the daisies at Camusfearna, by the Allt Mhor Shantaig, and his old boilers on Soay are about rusted away, they're making a very slow comeback.

Funny you should say that, as we popped in to Soay harbour when passing to look at the remains of his old Basking Shark murder station - including the rusty old boilers as you say.
(Went in by dinghy and even then grounded the outboard in the entrance. Not a place would take a deep keeler

 

[Sgeir]

Seemed to be loads of basking sharks around there this year, when we were up a few weeks back. We saw 20 in total, mostly around Canna but also quite a few in the entrance to the Sound of Mull, oblivious to the hoards of boats nearby

Yes. Also minke whales and plenty porpoises, but haven't seen the dolphins yet this year. Incidentally, one of the trip boats in Tobermory with some grandiose cetaceous type of name has taken to printing posters about minkie whales. Who wants to see minkie auld whales?

 

[ulava]

I was down by Staffa a couple of weeks ago and saw a a basking shark breaching clean out the water tail and all it was a large male i think about 25+ feet,never thought they had that kind of power.seen a few hundred through the years always slow and slugish so a first for me, any one else seen this before ??

 

[Sgeir]

Could it have been a porbeagle shark?

I ask that as two or three years ago in the same area, between Loch Tuath and the Treshnish Islands, we saw a bunch of what we assumed to be basking sharks behaving very oddly - going really very fast and aggressively towards our yacht, swerving off at the last moment in a manner not dissimilar to dolphins, although with the characteristic waving tails of sharks. We mentioned it at the whale and dolphin stuff office in Tobermory; turned out that they'd had other reports and were probably porbeagles.

 

[MM5AHO]

I've seen sharks broaching like that, but not in Scotland (in NZ).
Have seen Orca getting a long way out of the water (off Colonsay about 5 years ago), but not entirely.

Saw a good lot of dolphins (bottlenose I think) in sound of Barra 1st week in August. About 12-15 of them, and staye with us right the way through (west to east), one did a "headstand" with tail out of the water lasting what seemed a long time (perhaps 10 seconds), waving its tail above water.
Many sidled alongside the boat and then turned sideways obviously looking up at the two standing on the bow looking down.
Who says they're not playing, and not intelligent?

Biggest number of basking shark seen was in 2010 at Hyskeir Lighthouse. We'd anchored there for the day, and estimated there were about 50-60. All sizes down to "tiny" (1500mm?).

 

[ulava]

It was a basking shark for sure , I found this on youtube and it shows one breaching, it was just like the video but closer say about 400 yards looked more like a great white apart from the tail, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEFmjnajwY

 

[DaveS]

It was a basking shark for sure , I found this on youtube and it shows one breaching, it was just like the video but closer say about 400 yards looked more like a great white apart from the tail, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEFmjnajwY

I had no idea they could do that. If I had I'd have been a bit less blasé about the one that passed me a couple of metres away!

 

[Robert Wilson]

Funny you should say that, as we popped in to Soay harbour when passing to look at the remains of his old Basking Shark murder station - including the rusty old boilers as you say.
(Went in by dinghy and even then grounded the outboard in the entrance. Not a place would take a deep keeler

I took my Javelin30 into Soay harbour in July, following my sister & BiL's Westerly Corsair. Boath boats draw 1.5m. We stayed overnight and escaped ok next morning!
You have to line up with the leading marks on the starboard side of the inlet AND get your tide calcs spot on; even then it's a very close call.

But a magic wee spot, very interesting to explore and so peaceful when we were there. The weather was magic - calm, warm, cloudless skies and no midgies.
Unfortunately, at G&T time, we watched the Coastguard helicopter make two rescue flights from the backside of the Cullins.
AND we saw basking sharks just off the entrance!

 

[ulava]

Aye Dave, about 10 -15 ton o fish landing on yer deck like you say makes you think