Damien Enright: Basking sharks are back to delight tourists and locals alike

A fish big as a double-decker bus in mid-air must be quite a sight

A basking shark feeding off Baltimore, Co. Cork in recent years. Picture: Youen Jacob/Provision

Last week, Mark Gannon, owner of The Courtmacsherry Sea Angling Centre, told me that he and the daytrippers aboard his boat were treated to the phenomenal and inspiring sight of nine basking sharks slowly and, one might think, lazily touring the crystal sea around and beneath his boat as it gently bobbed off the Old Head of Kinsale.

Not only "awesome" but "inspiring" indeed: basking sharks are back. Harmless to humans, this extraordinary creature, readily available for viewing from our native shores, is the world's second-largest fish. It zig-zags through the plankton fields at less than two miles per hour, its huge maw hourly ingesting 2,000 tons of water, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool. This is filtered through huge gill rakers, leaving tonnes of minute, life-sustaining plankton for consumption.