Holidaymakers were shocked to come across a huge marine creature as they idled along on a boat off the coast of Gwynedd in north Wales. According to North Wales Live, the creature was almost the size of their vessel and was believed to be a basking shark.
Carmel Richardson, who was in a friend's speedboat with her family in Abersoch, Pen Llyn, grabbed a quick video clip of the encounter with the animal. Although they initially thought it was a dolphin, as they moved in for a closer look, Carmel and the group realised it was something much bigger.
On the video, the cries of "Oh my God!" and "See the size of that!" could be heard, before two children being towed on an inflatable were safely pulled in as the boat sped away. Despite the shock, 57-year-old Carmel Richardson from Merseyside said she felt honoured to have seen it.
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"It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said. "We’d only just tootled out on the water past the yellow buoys. The sea was quite quiet – there weren’t many boats on the water – when my friend Sylia Heath saw something and asked what it was.
“I said it was probably a dolphin. As we got closer, my son Stephen, who was on a jet ski, said, 'that’s not a dolphin, that’s a shark!'. It’s not something you expect to see near a beach in Wales. The fin was much bigger than a dolphin’s and when we got closer we could see the size of its body. Our boat was 18ft long and the shark was only a bit shorter - we think it was about 15ft in length."
Carmel added: "The kids had been in the water a few moments earlier. By this time they were back on the rubber ring, so we pulled them in and quickly left out of respect for the animal. We always try to be respectful while out in the sea as we love the area so much. The next day I told the beach warden about it and he said it was probably a basking shark."
Basking sharks are the world's second largest sharks. They are often found in warmer coastal waters around Britiain during the summer time, but they rarely venture quite so close to beaches. Slow, solitary swimmers, they usually ignore approaching boats as they browse surface waters to feed on plankton. Adults typically reach 28ft in length, indicating the one seen off Abersoch was probably a juvenile.
Despite their size, they are perfectly harmless. Under the Shark Trust’s code of conduct, swimmers are advised to stay at least four metres from the sharks, and boats at least 100 metres. "It was a lovely sight and it certainly hasn’t put us off going in the water," said Carmel.
"We happened to have friends over from the US and it was their first visit to Abersoch. They couldn’t believe it – they'd never seen a shark in America and had had to come all the way to Wales to find one." Sightings of unusual and exotic marine species are likely to become more regular off Welsh coasts if current warming trends continue. Basking sharks are not uncommon in UK waters but it is rare to see one quite so close to shore.
Frankie Hobro, owner and director of Anglesey Sea Zoo in Brynsiencyn, said another juvenile was spotted by a boat crew off the island’s north coast a couple of years ago. “The waters between Anglesey and the Isle of Man are a UK hotspot for basking sharks as, being planktonic feeders, that’s where their food is carried on the currents,” she said. "In fact you could quite easily organise basking shark-spotting trips there.
"Having said that, it’s really exciting to hear of another sighting, especially one so close to shore. From the description, it’s definitely a basking shark. Usually they’re seen a little later in the summer. This is quite early in the season, so hopefully we may get more reports in the months ahead."
It is believed that Anglesey Sea Zoo has the UK’s only life-sized model of an adult basking shark. Made from fibreglass and measuring 8.5 metres, it was commissioned only when Frankie was sure the zoo’s doors were wide enough to get it through.
"Most people never see them in the sea," she told North Wales Live. "It’s only by viewing a model that they can appreciate just how big they are – they are bigger than Great White sharks.
"The interesting thing about Britain’s basking sharks is that, although we know where they are during the summer, we have little idea what they do for the other six months of the year,” she said. “They are vulnerable to disturbance and, when boats become aware of them, they should stay well clear.
"It’s often difficult to see them because, as they are planktonic feeders, the waters where they found are usually quite murky. As they are basking feeders, it’s actually easier to see them when snorkelling than when diving. Just don’t get too close - they can turn sharply and whip their large tails around.
"As well as the fin you will often see its nose peeking out from the water. This tends to be pinkish or light-coloured, the result of opening its mouth to feed for long periods, exposing it to the air.
"This time of year we tend to get a lot of fin sightings off places like Cornwall, sparking shark scares. But you can pretty much guarantee that in the vast majority of cases, it’s only a basking shark."
