This 25-foot long, 8,000 lb beast of a basking shark was spotted off Kelly’s Island, in Conception Bay on Friday, September 25 by retired DFO director of enforcement policy Jerry Walsh of CBS. During his career, the Marystown native spent many hours on the water, and still today loves steaming around Conception Bay, but has only seen a basking shark twice. “It circled our boat three times,” said Walsh. “We turned off our engine to protect the magnificent animal as it came right up to our boat.” The sharks migrate from the Caribbean to Newfoundland waters around this time of year, Walsh noted, and have been satellite tagged as far away as the United Kingdom. Basking sharks can live to 50 and are the second biggest sharks in the world. They often swim with their mouths wide open, like this one, to feed on plankton. Jerry Walsh photo
