Today was our first day for 2015 Basking Shark Tagging with Professor Matt Witt and Professor Lucy Hawkes from University of Exeter at Tremough . A small team of us set out from Newquay Harbour aboard "Atlantic Diver" after recent reports of sightings of good sized basking sharks were shared to the Basking Shark Tagging hotline number
07935 098 122
Wind and swell dropped and setting off at 6am conditions seemed perfect until…..the FOG arrived …and stayed.
Despite the conditions , Matt spotted a small 4.5m basking shark, which by basker standards is relatively small. Unfortunately the shark swam just below the surface which made tagging impossible. The sighting was recorded and we continued to search.
we are asking for the support of public to call in time and location of any sightings from sea or land as soon as possible , so we can pull the team together and deploy the tags .
More info about the project can be seen here
www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_445590_en.html