On Monday we drove down to Grutness to see what was about, very little except a few Dunlin on the pool. Then a message came in that a Basking Shark could be seen at Sumburgh Head.
After a few minutes we were at the top carpark looking west over the cliff wall where a small number of people gathered
I quickly changed position and moved to the west passed the cafe and along to where i normally watch Puffins
It was quite windy and Gannet, Fulmar and Gt Skuas passed close by
With one other observer we looked down directly below the ciffs to get great views of The Basking shark a few hundred feet below
It was a big one well over 25 feet and later found out that this was the biggest most Shetlanders had ever seen
It was going back and forth in the same area for a couple of hours giving amazing views
Being a zooplankton eater it had its mouth wide open and was moving just below the surface
The shark moves close to a shag which didn't notice it at first then dived at the last minute
To give it some scale these are Shags about 75 feet from the sea
A juvenile Kittiwake passes close over head
It was the best view i have had, seen two before but in poor light and not as close. Up to now we have had around 10 Basking Sharks around Shetland. Today it returned to the same spot while up in Yell there was two more and one over near Whalsay
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