Marine Life & Conservation

Basking Sharks Injured by Marine Debris

Published

11 years ago

December 5, 2013

After spotting a basking shark this summer with rope around its nose we were rightly upset about the distress that was being caused to the shark. White abrasions can be seen where the rope has been cutting in and being in close proximity to the eye, must be damaging.

We did not see the shark again, so unfortunately couldn’t help it even after gaining the necessary means in which to do so. After a request to use the image of the shark to show school kids, highlighting the problem of marine debris, I did some searching on the net to see if any sharks had been seen before.

We found out that another shark with plastic on its nose was seen in 2012 by Craig Whalley round the Isle of Man (see his picture below). We got in touch with Craig (a kayaker from the IoM) and Jackie Hall from the Manx Basking Shark Watch. They had actually seen their shark this summer (2013) too, two years in a row. They named the shark Ringo for obvious reasons, putting an upbeat side to the shark’s predicament.

Initially we thought it was good news that the basking shark had been seen and that the shark was surviving under the circumstances. However after checking videos and pictures (looking for the sharks ‘bits’) it seems that we had spotted a female but the IoM shark was male.

The debris on our shark does appear to look like rope and the IoM like the plastic wrapping that goes round cardboard boxes. Jackie also advised that Colin Speedie, a Basking Shark researcher, saw one in 2001 fouled by plastic wrapping off Cornwall. So it’s very distressing to hear that three of our gentle ocean giants have been affected by our waste in such a way.

What you also must remember that a sharks nose is a highly sensitive part of its body, an area where the sharks electro-senses are concentrated. There is no question that this fouling will have an effect on the shark. Imagine what it would be like to have something on a sensitive part of your body but not have the means to remove it! The way I think about it, is having a splinter of wood stuck under your fingernail but not being able to get it out. Painful and extremely irritating.

From seeing these amazing sharks in this state, the lesson for us is to make sure you cut any strapping up before you dispose of it. If you are walking along the beach, please pick it up. Make sure that you dispose of all waste responsibly and along with the bigger issues of marine debris, try to reduce the amount of plastic that you use!

If we ever see this shark again, we’ll be geared up to help it. Please share this message with everyone so the message hits home about our how rubbish is effecting our ocean giants. With lots of messages of around the world about the issue of marine debris, here’s a real story from your own doorstep – it’s up to you to do something about it!

For more information on Basking Sharks Scotland, visit www.baskingsharkscotland.co.uk

Marine Life & Conservation

Book Review: Into the Great Wide Ocean

Published

5 days ago

April 24, 2025

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Into the Great Wide Ocean: Life in the Least Known Habitat on Earth by Sonke Johnsen

What an unexpected surprise! A book that combines a clear passion for the ocean with humour and the deft touch of a true storyteller. Johnsen gives a wonderful insight into the life of a deep sea marine biologist , the weird and wonderful animals encountered in this mysterious world, the trials and tribulations, in a way that makes you feel you have been sat at a table chatting about his work over a pint or cup of tea.

Even for divers, the deep blue open ocean can feel inaccessible. It is one of the least studied places in the universe. In this book that deep blue ocean and its inhabitants is brought to you with warmth and wit. And even the most well-read will come away with new facts and information. Johnsen’s goal is one that resonates throughout: Before we as scientists can ask people to preserve this important and fragile habitat, we need to show them that it’s there and the beauty of what lives in it. He does just that.

This is a book that combines the scientific with a deeply personal story. You feel what it is like to work out in the open ocean and get to know the animals that reside there. With descriptions that allow you to really imagine what it feels like being out there in the blue.

What the publisher says:

The open ocean, far from the shore and miles above the seafloor, is a vast and formidable habitat that is home to the most abundant life on our planet, from giant squid and jellyfish to anglerfish with bioluminescent lures that draw prey into their toothy mouths. Into the Great Wide Ocean takes readers inside the peculiar world of the seagoing scientists who are providing tantalizing new insights into how the animals of the open ocean solve the problems of their existence.

Sönke Johnsen vividly describes how life in the water column of the open sea contends with a host of environmental challenges, such as gravity, movement, the absence of light, pressure that could crush a truck, catching food while not becoming food, finding a mate, raising young, and forming communities. He interweaves stories about the joys and hardships of the scientists who explore this beautiful and mysterious realm, which is under threat from human activity and rapidly changing before our eyes.

Into the Great Wide Ocean presents the sea and its inhabitants as you have never seen them before and reminds us that the rules of survival in the open ocean, though they may seem strange to us, are the primary rules of life on Earth.

About the Author:

Sönke Johnsen is professor of biology at Duke University. He is the author of The Optics of Life: A Biologist’s Guide to Light in Nature and the coauthor of Visual Ecology (both Princeton). Marlin Peterson, who created original illustrations for this book, is an illustrator and muralist who teaches and illustrates in many styles and media. He also specializes in giant optical illusions such as his harvestmen mural below the Space Needle in Seattle, and his full portfolio can be found at marlinpeterson.com.

Book Details

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Hardcover

Price: £20.00

ISBN: 9780691181745

Published: 7th January, 2025

Marine Life & Conservation

Double Bubble for the Shark Trust

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2025

Team Scubaverse

This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!

The Shark Trust are raising vital funds for their Community Engagement Programme: empowering people to learn about sharks and rays, assisting the scientific community take action for elasmobranchs, and bring communities together to become ambassadors for change.

Every £1 you give = £2 for shark conservation. A donation of £10 becomes £20, £50 becomes £100! Help us reach our target of £10,000, if successful, this will be doubled to £20,000 by the Big Give.

Every donation makes DOUBLE the impact!

Monty Halls is backing this week of fundraising “Cousteau called sharks the “splendid savage of the sea”, and even through the more benign lens of modern shark interactions it remains a good description. The reefs I dived thirty years ago teemed with sharks, the perfect result of 450 million years of evolution. Today those same reefs are silent, the blue water empty of those elegant shadows. But hope remains that if one generation has created such devastation, so the next can reverse the damage that has been done. The Shark Trust are at the forefront of that fight.“

Donate Here

To find out more about the work of the Shark Trust visit their website here.