According to the Marine Conservation Society, which has been running basking shark research for 20 years, figures recently collated for 2006 gave 2222 sightings - a staggering increase over the previous year's figure of 1301.
'Sightings have risen consistently since 2003, but never by the 70 per cent increase [over 2005] we saw last year,' said Angus Bloomfield, MCS Biodiversity Projects Officer. 'While these figures are a record of sightings rather than numbers of sharks, they are very encouraging, and suggest that the population may be recovering as a result of protection.'
Following a sustained campaign by conservation organisations, steered mainly by the MCS, the basking shark became protected in British waters in 1998.
Rises in sightings will have been encouraged further by warmer seas and, in recent seasons, bountiful summer planktonic blooms.
Related links
MCS |
