Basking Shark Bonanza

An unprecedented number of basking sharks have been counted off the Cornish coast. Staff on Ocean Ranger, a boat that takes tourists on wildlife watching trips around the Land's End peninsula, counted a record 460 basking sharks in one day, far higher than normal. The 460 sharks were counted on Wednesday between Wolf Rock lighthouse, eight miles off Land's End, and Cape Cornwall, near Penzance. The day before, around 160 basking sharks were counted by a corporate boat and onshore teams. Ocean Ranger, a 12-seater rigid inflatable boat owned by Elemental Tours, helps count and track marine life and takes photographs for the Marine Conservation Society, the Shark Trust and Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Rory Goodall, from the company, said: "Normally at this time of year, you might get the odd one or two - the amount of 460 blows all records." Previously, the highest number of basking sharks counted in the area was around 300 off Lizard Point in the late 1990's...