Although it has been quiet the last two weeks with only occasional sightings of basking sharks reported, the Basking Shark team managed to deploy a further five tags on Wednesday 14 July off Dingle, Co Kerry. These are the first tags deployed in the Kingdom this year. In addition six more sharks were sampled for DNA using the slime sampling system pioneered by Simon Berrow and Emmett Johnston last year. This makes a total of 30 individual sharks sampled ...

Visual tagging has successfully provided a remarkable insight into the movements of a number of tagged sharks with one yellow-tagged shark off the north coast of Donegal showing remarkable site fidelity. Shark number 136 yellow has been re-sighted twice in the past number of days showing a remarkable low level of movement from where it was originally tagged. The shark has also been positively identified associating with other tagged and untagged ...

The North west basking shark project took delivery of a newly acquired RIB for the carrying out of tagging and surveying works. The vessel is a 1998 Redbay, Stormforce 7.4m RIB, which will provide a safe and stable platform for the wide variety of tasks, demanded of basking shark survey craft. The craft has an inboard Yamaha 165hp diesel stern-drive with full width engine box. This raised area provides a viewing platform for survey transects and shark ...

While many of us were relaxing on the beaches around the coast of our Atlantic washed Island, a team of Irelands leading marine biologists were hard at work hunting one of Irelands most iconic marine species, the Basking shark. These sharks are no ordinary creatures, growing up to 10m in length and often weighing over 3 tons one would think they are pretty hard to miss. However, miss them we do, for 8 months of the year the basking shark disappears ...

The Inishowen based Basking Shark Project has confirmed that the biggest fish in the ocean has returned to our coastal waters in huge numbers this year. Early reports from fishermen and the shark research teams indicates that the gigantic shark, which can grow up to 10m in length, can now to be seen feeding off the headlands and islands around the North west coast. The team of shark researchers will be out on the water again this year studying ...

A large (6-9m) basking shark was caught in mono-filament netting off Killala at Enniscrone, killcullen on the 17th of March 2010. Members of the Bluewater Sub Aqua Club spent an Hour of gallant work removing the netting from the sharks body and fins before attempting to re-float the animal. Unfortunately for all involved the shark died shortly afterwards. The emotive rescue work carried out by Bluewater sub aqua club members was a fine example of ...

The work of the basking shark research team was featured on a documentary on RTE last night. As part of Wild Journeys the tagging and tracking project was filmed over the last two years. The results made excellent viewing. The link below to the full programme is http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1070080 but the shark piece is spread around in three sections with the following timing: 15:00 - 25:15; 34:05 - 37:05; 41:30 - 44.27 We will be continuing ...

Irelands most Iconic marine species the basking shark is in need of your assistance. The Basking Shark research team is a group of interested scientists and individuals who give their time and expertise in the quest to gain protection for the Basking Shark in Irish waters. The Shark is not counted as a wildlife species under Irish legislation and has no specific protection measures in National waters. The group is actively raising the profile ...

RTE's new flagship wildlife series is to feature the Irish Basking Shark Project on Easter Sunday the 4th of April. The programme will follow Dr Simon Berrow of the shark research team in the quest to discover where the sharks hunt during winter months and also if the same sharks return to Irish shores annually. Satellite tag telemetry was used to track the winter movements of the sharks and both tags successfully popped off and relayed their information ...

Research on basking sharks, funded by the Heritage Council will be the subject of a live lecture by Dr Simon Berrow under the auspices of TEDx Dublin. The talk entitled "Shark Slime ! A tool for a better global understanding of basking sharks" will present the discovery that DNA can be extracted from shark slime using non-invasive research techniques. Please tune in to TEDx Dublin for this event streamed live on the internet. The event ...