The rise of the shark in British waters

If you are looking for sharks, there are plenty to see wherever you are around the British Isles. Dr Ben Garrod reveals the five shark species you're likely to see in our waters.

"My lasting love of sharks was kindled the day I rescued one. Just 11 years old, I was on a deserted beach one cold Sunday morning, with my trusty terrier, Toby. There had been a high spring tide, leaving broad, shallow furrows in the sand. It was in one of these temporary channels that we spotted a fish thrashing desperately about.

"I’d grown up on nature documentaries and had read every one of Gerald Durrell’s books, so I felt prepared for the task ahead. Worried that the water would seep away and that the shark would effectively suffocate, I waited until she was facing away (and yes, it was a ‘she’) and grabbed her tail. I felt her course sandpaper skin and the power in her muscular body, and flung her into the nearby surf, afraid of receiving some terrible injury from her jaws.

"It was over in seconds. As I saw her disappear back into the sea, I had never been so proud or felt as brave. I feel that my achievement should in no way become diminished simply because my shark was a small-spotted catshark and was only around 40cm long.

"As well as introducing me to sharks and their flattened cousins, the rays, my rescue showed me that, like anything, sharks too could be vulnerable and needed our help. In my adult life as a biologist I’ve been lucky enough to meet some fantastic sharks. I’ve dived with majestic tiger sharks off Cuba, seen schooling hammerheads in the Galapagos and fallen in love with gentle leopard sharks on a Madagascan reef – but my love of sharks started here in the UK, and it is still ‘our’ British sharks that fascinate me most."

British waters: a shark’s place of refuge

"As a kid, I learnt that there were 21 species of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) found in British waters. More recently, this had risen to over 30 and just last week, I learnt that it now might actually exceed 80 different resident and visiting species. At a time when studies are showing that in oceans across the globe, populations of predatory fish (including sharks) have dropped by over 90% largely due to hunting (100 million sharks are killed a year) and overharvesting of prey species, sharks in British waters appear to be doing well.

"Are there more of them or are we just getting better at producing more accurate population estimates? Our knowledge of marine ecology is constantly improving and research techniques are advancing rapidly. We have a better understanding now about what’s in our seas than ever before."

But why so many species? This is mainly due to having a startling diversity of marine habitats, from the shallow sandy waters of the North Sea and the cold clear waters around the Scottish Hebrides to the warmer offshore habitats around the southwest.

You can find beautiful benthic angel sharks around sandy estuaries and amethystine blue sharks around the Cornish coastline, visiting in the summer as part of their 5,500km migration. We have primeval, slow-moving Greenland sharks, which can live for over 400 years, in the icy northernmost waters around the UK and even the world’s fastest sharks, the 4m long shortfin mako, cruising our coasts in search of mackerel shoals.

Marine protection

While we may not be certain about the health of many of our own shark populations, the waters around the British Isles do offer better protection than many locations around the world. There are currently over 300 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) providing haven for our resident sharks and other creatures.

These MPAs can be defined as an area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, along with its associated water and any fauna, flora, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law to protect a particular part of – or all of – the designated environment.

Currently, these MPAs cover more than four million hectares, or approximately 4% of UK waters. Although they offer both immediate protection and help repopulate surrounding areas through the overflow caused by increasing populations, these protected zones are not without their issues.

Dr Jean-Luc Solandt is the principal specialist in Marine Protected Areas for the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and believes that there is still a long way to go before our sharks are safe.

“Many of the most threatened species are migratory and need EU-wide regulation to protect their populations. We (MCS) achieved this with the UK government for the threatened but commercially uninteresting basking shark in 2005 and 2007 across all EU waters – banning the trade and catching of all basking shark parts,” he says. “But, when it comes to protecting sharks that migrate over wide areas, the endangered status suddenly becomes less meaningful.

Basking shark — The hungry mouth of a basking shark, pictured off the West Coast of Scotland. Credit: Getty Images

“Considerable efforts have been made for years to get threatened species such as the porbeagle additional protection under the Convention on Migratory Species, but with little success so far. There is frankly too much interest in overseas catching of sharks to make any domestic legislation wholly effective. Their entire range needs more stringent protection.”

With many populations of commercial fish rebounding, as well as water quality improvements around the UK, there is much to be positive about with regards to shark and ray conservation. Additionally, earlier in 2017, the British Government announced that they will be consulting on a new (and final) set of Marine Protected Areas in English seas, with plans for designation in 2018. If existing MPAs can be linked up, then much more can be done to secure the future of these iconic predators.

Basking in glory

More recently, I had another encounter with British sharks, although I definitely didn’t pick these ones up. While working up in the Inner Hebrides, I was lucky enough to sail in waters brimming with basking sharks.

Seeing their huge triangular fins cutting back and forth through the water was a humbling experience. I marvelled at these ponderous leviathans in the clear water and once again fell in love with our sharks.

A fascinating and enthralling group, the sharks around our coastline are able to sense the electrical output of a beating heart; some hunt in packs; and others have even been seen to play with seaweed and chase each other. They are fully deserving of both our appreciation and our support.

Five shark species in British waters

Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)

The porbeagle reaches 2.5m in length and weighs around 135 kg.
The great white shark is a close relation.
It is found in both cold and temperate waters, ranging from the oceans in the southern hemisphere to the Northern Atlantic.
It preys on fish such as mackerel, herring, cod and flatfish and also cephalopods (especially squid).
Although not highly manoeuvrable, it is a fast and active hunter, able to maintain a body temperature higher than the surrounding water, giving it the increased power and stamina needed for chasing down its prey.

Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus)

Average length of 6-8 m (although the largest recorded was over 12 m).
The basking shark is the second largest fish alive, with only the whale shark reaching greater lengths.
It is also known as the elephant shark, hoe-mother and the bone shark.
Despite its huge size, it is one of only three plankton-feeding sharks, along with the whale shark and the aptly named megamouth.
It has many very small teeth but uses specialised adaptations such as a very wide mouth and sieve-like gill rakers to filter and trap food.
For its body size, the basking shark has the smallest brain size of any shark.

Small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula)

This is a small shark, growing up to 1m in length and weighing around 2kg.
It is also known as the lesser-spotted dogfish, rough hound and, in Scotland and Cornwall, the morgay.
Found in habitats ranging from a few metres to approximately 400m deep.
One of the most abundant elasmobranchs in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. Populations are stable in most areas.
An opportunistic predator, it feeds on a range of species, preying mainly on fish, molluscs and crustaceans but also echinoderms such as urchins and even polychaete worms.

Flapper skate (Dipturus intermedia)

The largest skate in the world has a maximum wingspan of just under 3m.
Critically endangered, it is one of the most threatened species in British waters.
It is found mostly around northern Scotland and the north of Ireland.
A bottom dwelling species, flapper skates are mainly found at depths of 100–200m, but that can be as shallow as 3m and as deep as 1,000m.
It is estimated that the common skate can live up to 50–100 years and reaches maturity at about 11 years old.
The eggcase (or mermaid’s purse) may reach 215mm in length. Its size and woody appearance when dry makes it hard to miss. If you found one washed up on the beach, the Shark Trust is looking for sightings, to understand more about the population – see The Great Eggcase Hunt for more details.

Blue shark (Prionace glauca)

Males commonly grows to 1.8 to 2.8m at maturity, whereas the larger females can range from 2.2m to 3.2m.
Inhabits deep waters in the world’s temperate and tropical oceans.
It migrates long distances, often travelling thousands of miles.
Diet largely focuses on squid but also cuttlefish, lobster and crabs, as well as a large range of fish prey.
Blue sharks have been observed working together as a ‘pack’ to herd prey into a tight group from which they can feed more easily.
These sharks give birth to live young (viviparous) and may have between 25 and 100 ‘pups’ at a time.
Its triangular teeth allow it to easily catch hold of slippery prey.

For more information on marine conservation campaigns and marine protected areas, visit mcsuk.org

Main image © Getty. A seasonal visitor to our waters, the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) is the fastest shark in the world, able to swim at speed bursts of 18.8m per second (42 mph). An average adult measures around 3.2m.