Basking Shark Code of Conduct Basking Sharks · Basking Sharks commonly display scars from boat...
Transcript of Basking Shark Code of Conduct Basking Sharks · Basking Sharks commonly display scars from boat...
Basking Shark Code of ConductThe following guidelines have been designed to help boat handlers reduce the risk of killing, injuring or harassing Basking Sharks.
Boat control near Basking Sharks• Restrict your speed to below 6 knots and
avoid sudden speed changes.• When closer than 100 m switch the engine
to neutral to avoid injuring sharks.• Avoid disturbing dense groups of sharks
as you may disrupt courtship behaviour.• Be extremely cautious in areas where
Basking Sharks have been seen breaching.
• Jet-skis are incompatible with Basking Sharks and should stay at least 500 m away.
• Remember that for every shark visible on the surface there are likely to be more hidden just below.
Tips• Take time to observe the direction of
movement of the Basking Sharks to anticipate their course – you can then position yourself for the best view.
• Don’t forget to take pictures of the fins for the photo-identification project.
Under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) it is illegal to kill, injure or recklessly disturb Basking Sharks in British waters. Any person committing such an offence could face up to 6 months in prison.
10m
20m
30m
40m
50m
60m
70m
80m
90m
100m
When closer than 100 m switch the engine to neutral
Remember that for every shark visible on the surface there are likely to be more hidden below
6knots
Restrict your speed to below 6 knots
Don’t forget to take pictures of the fins for the photo-identification project
www.baskingsharks.org
Illustrations by Marc Dando
It is
als
o ve
ry i
mpo
rtan
t to
rec
ord
any
inci
dent
s of
Bas
king
Sha
rk s
tran
ding
s as
it
coul
d pr
ovid
e us
with
vita
l cl
ues
abou
t th
e sh
ark’
s bi
olog
y or
cau
se o
f de
ath.
If
you
com
e ac
ross
a s
tran
ded
Bask
ing
Shar
k th
en p
leas
e re
port
it to
the
UK
Ceta
cean
St
rand
ings
In
vest
igat
ion
Proj
ect o
n –
0207
449
667
2.
To
repo
rt
any
othe
r un
usua
l m
arin
e si
ghtin
gs, n
on-n
ativ
e sp
ecie
s or s
ight
ings
of
mar
ine
mam
mal
s, tu
rtle
s an
d je
llyfis
h go
to
th
e M
arin
e Li
fe
Info
rmat
ion
Net
wor
k (M
arLI
N) w
ebsi
te a
nd fi
ll in
thei
r on
line
form
- w
ww
.mar
lin.a
c.uk
/rm
l
ww
w.b
aski
ngsh
arks
.org
Man
’s Im
pact
sD
espi
te b
eing
pro
tect
ed, B
aski
ng S
hark
s ar
e st
ill
nega
tivel
y aff
ecte
d by
m
an’s
activ
ities
. Ba
skin
g Sh
arks
co
mm
only
di
spla
y sc
ars
from
bo
at
colli
sion
s, pr
opel
lers
and
net
ent
angl
emen
t. Th
e Sh
ark
Trus
t is
inve
stig
atin
g th
e ex
tent
to
whi
ch B
aski
ng S
hark
s ar
e be
ing
affec
ted
by
thes
e an
thro
poge
nic
impa
cts
and
we
are
very
kee
n to
rec
eive
rep
orts
and
pi
ctur
es o
f th
ese
inci
dent
s, w
hich
you
ca
n su
bmit
thro
ugh
the
Bask
ing
Shar
k w
ebsi
te –
ww
w.b
aski
ngsh
arks
.org
.
Lear
ning
mor
e ab
out
how
Bas
king
Sha
rks
are
affec
ted
by m
an’s
activ
ities
will
ena
ble
the
deve
lopm
ent
of b
ette
r st
rate
gies
for
pr
otec
ting
the
shar
ks in
our
wat
ers.
Subm
ittin
g yo
ur r
ecor
dsSu
bmit
your
pho
to-id
entifi
catio
n im
ages
onl
ine
at-
ww
w.b
aski
ngsh
arks
.org
to
help
inc
reas
e un
ders
tand
ing
of t
he
biol
ogy
and
man
agem
ent n
eeds
of B
aski
ng S
hark
s.
Part
ners
hip
for A
ctio
n Ag
ains
t Wild
life
Crim
e –
PAW
To re
port
inci
dent
s of d
istu
rban
ce o
r har
assm
ent t
o a
Bask
ing
Shar
k,
cont
act y
our l
ocal
Pol
ice
Wild
life
Liai
son
Offi
cer.
See:
ww
w.d
efra
.gov
.uk/
paw
/con
tact
s.ht
m fo
r the
con
tact
det
ails
of
you
r loc
al o
ffice
r.
The
Wild
life
Trus
tsTh
ere
are
47 l
ocal
Wild
life
Trus
ts a
cros
s th
e U
K.
The
Wild
life
Trus
ts
are
the
larg
est
volu
ntar
y or
gani
satio
n de
dica
ted
to co
nser
ving
all
of th
e U
K’s
habi
tats
and
spe
cies
, whe
ther
in t
he c
ount
rysi
de,
in c
ities
or a
t sea
. w
ww
.wild
lifet
rust
s.or
g
Mar
ine
Cons
erva
tion
Soci
ety
The
Mar
ine
Cons
erva
tion
Soci
ety
(MCS
) run
s th
e Ba
skin
g Sh
ark
Wat
ch –
a U
K si
ghtin
g sc
hem
e.
To re
port
a B
aski
ng S
hark
sig
htin
g, v
isit
the
MCS
w
ebsi
te a
nd fi
ll in
the
onlin
e fo
rm: w
ww
.mcs
uk.o
rg
Resp
onsi
ble
Eco-
tour
ism
WiS
e Sc
hem
eW
iSe
(Wild
life
Safe
) is
a sc
hem
e se
t up
to
deliv
er tr
aini
ng a
nd a
ccre
dita
tion
for
oper
ator
s of
regi
ster
ed p
asse
nger
and
cha
rter
ve
ssel
s w
ho w
ish
to v
iew
mar
ine
wild
life:
ww
w.w
ises
chem
e.or
g
Bask
ing
Shar
ks
Incl
udin
g Co
de o
f Co
nduc
t Po
ster
s
The
Shar
k Tr
ust
The
Shar
k Tr
ust i
s the
cons
erva
tion
char
ity d
edic
ated
to
the
stu
dy,
man
agem
ent
and
cons
erva
tion
of
shar
ks, s
kate
s an
d ra
ys. Y
ou c
an c
ontr
ibut
e to
the
fu
ture
sur
viva
l of
the
se f
asci
natin
g ye
t vu
lner
able
sp
ecie
s by
ado
ptin
g a
Bask
ing
Shar
k or
bec
omin
g a
mem
ber –
bot
h of
whi
ch y
ou c
an d
o th
roug
h th
e Sh
ark
Trus
t web
site
– w
ww
.sha
rktr
ust.
org
4 C
reyk
es C
ou
rt, 5
Cra
igie
Dri
ve, T
he
Mill
fiel
ds,
Ply
mo
uth
PL1
3JB
Tel:
(+44
) (0)
175
2 67
2020
Reg
iste
red
Cha
rity
No.
: 10
641
85
Reg
iste
red
co
mp
any
No.
: 339
616
4
Eric Stephan/APECS
Rory Goodall/Elemental Tours
Bask
ing Sh
ark fi
n sho
wing
prop
eller
injur
y.
Dead
Bask
ing Sh
ark w
ashe
d up i
n Cor
nwall
Lobs
ter p
ot ro
pe on
a Ba
sking
Shar
k tail
.
Colin Speedie /Swiss Shark Foundation
Illustr
ation
by M
arc D
ando
.
MarineConservationSocietyMCS
Marine
Conservation
Society
MC
S
Basking Shark Code of ConductThe following guidelines have been designed to help swimmers and divers reduce the risk of injuring or harassing Basking Sharks.
Swimming with Basking Sharks
• Do not try to touch the sharks.• Maintain a distance of 4 m from each
shark and be wary of the tail.• Groups of swimmers should stay together
and ideally remain at the surface.• Restrict the number of people in the
water at any one time.• Take plenty of pictures but avoid flash
photography which can scare the sharks. Photograph any characteristic features which may help re-identify the shark in the future.
• Do not use underwater propelled devices.
Tips
• Aim to anticipate the direction of movement of the sharks and enter the water 100 m ahead of the sharks.
Under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) it is illegal to kill, injure or recklessly disturb Basking Sharks in British waters. Any person committing such an offence could face up to 6 months in prison.
1m
2m
3m
4m
5m
6m
7m
Remember that for every shark visible on the surface there are likely to be more hidden below
Maintain a distance 4 metres away from each shark
Restrict the number of people in the water at any one time
Illustrations by Marc Dando
ww
w.baskingsharks.org
Basking Sharks- Gentle Giants of the SeaBasking Shark Facts
The Basking Shark is the second largest fish in the sea and a regular visitor to U
K waters.
Docile
plankton-feeders, Basking
Sharks are regularly spotted feeding in the surface w
aters off U
K coastlines during the spring and sum
mer m
onths. So, next tim
e you go to the coast, keep your eyes peeled for the fins of Basking Sharks breaking the sea-surface; you m
ay be lucky enough to see Britain’s largest shark!
Nam
e: Basking Shark Cetorhinus maxim
us. Cetorhinus is derived from
the Greek “ketos” m
eaning a marine m
onster or whale and
“rhinos” which m
eans nose, while the species nam
e maxim
us is Latin, m
eaning “great.” Size: Basking Sharks are believed to grow
up to 10 metres in length
but the average adult length is around 6.5 to 9 metres.
Biology: Poorly known – slow
growth rate and late m
aturity with life
expectancy of over 50 years. Food: Basking Sharks feed passively
on zooplankton and are thought to be capable of filtering over 1,800 tonnes of w
ater per hour. D
istribution: Basking Sharks have a circum
global distribution and are found in tem
perate waters.
Behaviour: Basking
Sharks are
pelagic species that are often seen singly or in groups of up to 100 feeding
at the
surface. D
espite their size, Basking Sharks can leap clean out of the w
ater.
Photo-IdentificationPhoto-identification is a pow
erful tool for studying sharks in their natural environm
ent.
The European Basking Shark Photo-id
Project (EBSPiP)
was
created to
catalogue im
ages of
Basking Sharks in order to establish greater understanding of the population size, structure and m
ovements of Basking
Sharks around the British Isles and abroad.
It is very easy for everyone to get involved in the project and m
ake a significant contribution to the greater understanding and conservation of Basking Sharks. By taking photographs of the fins or any other characteristic feature
of Basking
Sharks and
submitting them
to the project you are taking an active role in an ongoing shark conservation effort.
To find out more about the project
and to submit your im
ages, go to w
ww
.baskingsharks.org.
Conservation and ProtectionH
istorically, Basking Sharks were heavily fished for their liver oil,
meat, fins and cartilage. This, com
bined with their slow
maturity and
low reproductive output, has led to Basking Sharks being listed as
globally Vulnerable on the IUCN
’s Red List and Endangered in the N
ortheast Atlantic and N
orth Pacific.
Internationally, Basking Sharks are protected under a number of
international agreements such as the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix II, The Convention on
Migratory Species (CM
S) Appendix I and II, and A
nnex I of the United
Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UN
CLOS).
In British waters, Basking Sharks are protected from
capture and disturbance under the W
ildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and the Countryside Rights of W
ay Act, making it illegal to intentionally
disturb or harass the sharks.
The UK governm
ent has made a com
mitm
ent to conserving some
of the UK’s m
ore threatened species by creating Biodiversity Action Plans (BA
Ps). The Shark Trust is one of three lead partners for the Basking Shark BA
P and has created the attached Code of Conduct to encourage w
ater users to enjoy Basking Sharks safely without
causing excessive disturbance or harassment.
More details about the protection and conservation of Basking
Sharks both nationally and internationally can be found on: w
ww
.baskingsharks.org.
Sally Sharrock A Basking Shark filter feeding at the surface through its gill rakers.
A Basking Shark.
All photos on this page courtesy of Colin Speedie/Swiss Shark Foundation.
Illustration by Marc Dando.
www.baskingsharks.orgMarineConservationSocietyMCS