Shark tagged off Malin Head, Donegal has turned up off the East Coast of the US.
One of the basking sharks equipped with a satellite transmitter on the north Irish coast at Malin Head has been videoed and sighted off the northeastern coast of the US by a Mr Eric Savetsky. This is an interesting development, as previous tracking studies have shown numerous north south movements on both sides of the Atlantic but there is only one previous record of a west-east Atlantic basin movement by a basking shark. This record is in keeping with recent studies highlighting the low genetic diversity of the animals not just in the Atlantic, but globally, and suggests the interconnectivity of the sharks throughout the whole Atlantic basin is current and active. The implications of this finding are huge with regard to the need for conservation measures around the species and the importance of Irish legislation to protect them when they move along our coast. The tag was filmed at Nauset, a beach in Orleans, Massachusetts.
