Basking sharks off coast signals good weather ahead

BASKING sharks, the second largest fish in the world, have been sighted off the coast of West Cork.

Between 10 and 12 of the fish, about the size of a small truck, have been spotted in the past fortnight cruising the waters between Cape Clear and the Old Head of Kinsale. It’s the first time in several years that such large animals have been observed here, according to Dr Nic Slocum, director of Whale Watch, West Cork.

“We have encountered a large number of individual sharks during our whale watching tours during the past two weeks and passengers on the Fishguard to Rosslare ferry have been reporting sightings to us.”