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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

I'm not claiming anything (1 Viewer)

Farnboro John

Well-known member
On Thursday, with Clare, I had my first go at the Great Blue Heron on Scilly, boating on and off. We dipped, but ignoring that it wasn't a bad day, with loads of Common Dolphins both ways (and in Mounts Bay before we boarded the Scillonian), Clare ticking Lesser White-toothed Shrew, and a stick insect in Old Town Churchyard.

However, its the one that got away that I am posting about.

On the way back on the boat, we had sea mist for much of the crossing, so were concentrating on the area fairly close to the boat. Clare and I had taken up one of the side-facing benches to get out of the cold wind, and I was just holding my bins steady, using the ship's motion to scan a belt of sea.

Suddenly I had a dorsal fin tracking aft. I followed it for several seconds before the animal slipped below the short chop and was lost. It was quite large: I was looking at most but not all of it (no hint of the animal's back below it) and I reckon it was 18 inches or more of fin. It was roughly triangular in form, with a vertical trailing edge and a slightly convex leading edge. If you took a straight line from the fin tip cutting across the leading edge to where the base of the fin ought to be (following this?) I think the slope would be about 45 degrees.

It was dark slate blue in colour. I didn't see a tail fin behind it.

Plainly it was a shark's fin. Given the shape, the size alone rules out anything but Basking Shark or Great White Shark. If it was a Basking Shark I would have expected to see a tailfin: the sea was choppy but not rough. April 16th seems early to me for Basking Shark but I don't know enough about it.

Anyway.... there you go. I'm not claiming anything. As dips go, it was an interesting day out.

John
 
Basking sharks were slighted off Coll on 3rd April, don't know how Hebrides timings relate to Scilly.
 
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