A kayaker was enjoying a peaceful day paddling through the waters of Ireland’s west coast—near Galley Head, Cork—when over half a dozen Basking Sharks surrounded his kayak.
Paul Clearly mentioned that he stumbled across “at least eight large basking sharks feeding” and remarkably was able to capture the extraordinary encounter on his handheld, underwater camera.
Basking Sharks’ jaws can expand up to 3 feet wide and, in the video, we can clearly see that it’s feeding o’clock for these guys.
At this point, you’re probably wondering, “why is he filming, instead of paddling away as fast as he can?”
Well, luckily for Clearly, this species of shark—the second-largest living shark or fish on the planet—has no interest in humans. Basking Sharks feed almost exclusively on microscopic animals called zooplankton.
Even so, we’re still not certain we would have the courage to be sticking our hand underwater, so close to their mouths…
None of the videos are available to watch. They may start ok, but turn into green lines with just audio.