Close Encounters
By Larry O'Hanlon

Isle of Man, British Islands, 8/18/00 — I never thought I’d be so happy to see a shark.

It's our fourth time out this week on the Basking Shark Society's Jasmine, searching for the giant fish that feed near the sea surface here. Shifting weather and seasons make finding the sharks a little trickier this time of year, but today we get lucky.

Just 30 minutes after setting out from Peel's harbor, we spot a dark triangle to the right of the ship’s bow. A whoop goes up from all eager shark watchers on board as we rush forward for a closer look. Sure enough, both a top and tail fin slice through the water. They belong to a 14-foot basker, just a youngster. Despite the powerful swells rocking the boat, we manage to get close enough to look down and see the basker’s open mouth and large gills, sure signs that it is feeding on microscopic plants and animals called plankton.

Then we spot another shark, and another. They have collected within a small area where plankton must be thick — a floating pasture.

Basking shark researcher Ken Watterson suits up and jumps into the choppy, cold seas. He wants to get a closer look at the animals to identify their sexes and tag them for tracking. The conditions are less than ideal. It's tough to see the 2-foot-high shark fins over the 4-foot swells, and below the surface the water is too murky to catch sight of the sharks until they are just a few feet away.

To help out I climb a ladder to the crow's nest to shout directions to both the boat's captain and Watterson. There is a moment when two sharks seem to play hide and seek with us. The experience is almost comical.

I begin to realize that the reflexive "danger" signal my brain gave me when I first laid eyes on the fins is gone. Instead I'm amazed by the graceful, peaceable sharks, swimming with a serene grace that’s downright calming. Their slow-motion gliding mesmerizes.

The day is a success. We shark watchers finally saw what we came to see, and Watterson has gathered more information about these sharks that are his life's work. Despite his more than 4,000 encounters with baskers, he is as thrilled as we are.

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