Hunting For Basking Sharks
Porthkerris Cove, Cornwall.
by Alan Ewart

Well, you know how it is. The sun was shining, forecast was good, the sea was calm and it was my birthday. What better way to celebrate than with a few days hunting Basking Sharks in sunny Cornwall? It was also Whitsun Bank holiday week! There had been a rush of Basking Shark sightings over the weekend. Needless to say we chose to go down midweek rather than risk the bank holiday traffic.

Porthkerris Cove is situated near St Keverne on the Lizard so you really can’t go much further south or west. It’s a long haul from Dorset down to Porthkerris even on a sunny Tuesday morning. Travelling times from other parts of the country may be a little prohibitive but it’s worth it when you arrive.

The diving in the area is tremendous. There is something for everyone with reef dives available locally at anything up to 40 metres deep. Being just a mile or so from the Manacles reefs there are of course dozens of wrecks to dive in the area. Again there is something for everyone with wrecks from 10 metres for the novice to 60 metres plus for the Trimix diver. We chose to dive with Porthkerris Dive Centre http://www.porthkerris.com/

This is a well run and organised operation and the dive guides have a huge amount of local knowledge. There are a number of ribs available as well as a large catamaran, the ‘Celtic Cat’. The centre can provide air, nitrox or trimix.

Having arrived mid afternoon Tuesday, we decided to get wet by jumping in on the shore dive just off Porthkerris beach. This is known as Drawna rock and is a very pretty dive indeed. When we were there (first week in June) visibility was about 8 metres. After a bit of a scramble down the shingle beach it is just a short swim out to the reef. The seaward side of the reef is probably the most interesting. Access is by swimming all the way round the reef or by swimming through a little gulley. The gulley is heaving with life, anemones, hydroids, tunicates dead men's fingers and cup corals are in abundance. Large numbers of wrasse, Pollack, bib, poor cod etc are present. Swimming north on the seaward side is a reasonably sheer rock face. It is worth exploring the cracks in the rock these are often home to shrimp, prawns, velvet swimming crabs and blennies. Also on the North side is a small overhand the underside of which is encrusted with Jewel anemones and some spectacular dead men’s fingers. At the foot of the overhang piles of crab shells suggested the presence of an octopus but unfortunately it did not show itself. If you are a wildlife fan this really is the sort of dive you can do on numerous occasions without getting bored. This is just as well as you will discover!

Wednesday dawned bright sunny and calm, perfect! We boarded the ‘Celtic cat’ and went off in search of basking sharks. We had high hopes, as there had been a good few sightings over the previous week. We spent the morning searching without luck and then pulled into a sheltered cove for a very nice lunch. The water was very clear and it seemed like the plankton bloom had passed. It seemed we were out of luck on this trip.

Now this is in no way a criticism of Porthkerris divers but I would have liked the option of a dive from the boat after lunch, as it was clear that the hunt for basking sharks was going to be futile. The passengers on the boat were mostly non-divers so this wasn’t possible. The idea was to snorkel with the Sharks and as we didn’t find any it had cost us £40 for a boat trip with lunch. That’s life of course, sharks as we all know don’t pop up to order. Of course the day wasn’t a complete washout as we did see some dolphins and a sunfish.

On arrival back at Porthkerris it was on kit for another swim around Drawna reef. This was every bit as enjoyable as on the previous day. In fact it was so enjoyable that we did it again on Thursday as, unfortunately, there were no RIBs running. Mike was out hunting sharks again and the other dive guides were either teaching or had the day off.

During the trip we stayed at the ‘Three Tuns’ pub in St Keverne.
http://www.threetunsstkeverne.co.uk/

This is run by Lisa who is the daughter of the owner of Porthkerris divers. It’s a very friendly place and the food is excellent. For those who might fancy a dive trip down to Porthkerris they often do a midweek special offering 3 days RIB diving (2 dives a day) on the manacles reef, with two nights B &B at the ‘Three Tuns’ thrown in, for about £115. Great value for a midweek break. The only downside is the travelling which on a busy weekend can be hellish.

Alan Ewart, (A760545/1924)

UK main page