Manx assist landmark basking shark study

Tagging project tracks winter travels

A landmark paper on the winter travels of basking sharks which drew on Manx research, has been published in a prestigious academic journal.

Using satellite tracking, scientists at the University of Exeter discovered the sharks swim vast distances to different areas such as north Africa and the Bay of Biscay, as part of their seasonal migration.

The whereabouts of sharks during winter had been a mystery until the study, now published in the renowned Nature Scientific Reports journal, reached its findings.

Jackie and Graham Hall of Manx Basking Shark Watch helped tag the sharks in Manx waters so their movements could be tracked.

Phillip Doherty, PhD student at Exeter and lead author of the paper says their help was a valuable part of the study: