Basking shark sightings around the Isle of Man have seen a notable increase this summer, with over 100 recorded so far. This resurgence follows a period where numbers had significantly declined, leading to the cessation of research in 2022.
Previously, sightings had fallen from 885 in 2009 to just a single individual in 2022. Reasons for the decline were attributed to factors such as lack of food, warmer seas, or potentially electromagnetic fields from underwater electricity cables.
However, experts within the fisheries department now suggest that a good bloom of microscopic crustaceans, known as copepods, is responsible for the sharks' return. Copepods are the primary food source for basking sharks.
Basking sharks migrate north through the island's waters from May to August. Tagged sharks have been recorded as far south as Morocco and west as Newfoundland.