Pádraig Hooley

Good morning, Clare.

Well, it's a magnificent beast of an animal.

The basking shark is actually the second biggest shark species and therefore the second largest fish on the planet.

Second only to the tropical cousin, the whale shark.

And it's an annual visitor.

And, you know, right now is perhaps the very best time to see them.

Typically, they arrive in April.

some some specimens might even arrive as early as late march but april the big drive and then peaking around now around may and then by june the site is kind of uh tapering off and we have a second peak then later in the year around september and that seems to be focused more specifically along the west claire coast uh where they're doing something completely different but at this time of the year they're in here they're feeding and people will be glad to know that they're uh

they're feeding on plankton and krill and very, very small little animals.

So they're very, very different to more predatory type sharks.

So they pose absolutely no risk to humans.

They're a very benign, gentle giant.

No, not at all.

And interestingly, Jaws was, of course, the great white shark.

And anatomically, the Baskin shark is really similar, both in terms of size and outward appearance.

The only difference is their dentition.

Their teeth are very, very different.

So they're not designed for killing and eating meat like great whites are.

So they're more like ocean grazers.

So in many respects, we always look at them as being more like honorary whales, if you like.