Celebrate Wirral’s basking sharks for National Marine Week

Aug 3 2011 by Jade Wright, Birkenhead News

It’s National Marine Week and the Wildlife Trusts are urging everyone to grab a bucket and spade and head down to the beach at Thurstaston on August 5, where you could be in for a surprise.

For most of us, the opening bars of spine-tingling movie Jaws could put you off sharks for life, but in fact the Irish Sea is home to one of worlds’ biggest.

However when it comes to a close encounter with the world’s second largest fish – the basking shark – you can feel quite safe in your rubber dingy.

That’s because the biggest thing likely to make its way into a basking sharks’ mouth, plankton, is only a few millimetres long.

And to celebrate the creatures of the Irish Sea, Cheshire Wildlife Trust wants everyone to come and help make a giant 12m basking shark sand-sculpture.

As part of National Marine Week, there’ll be also be a chance to discover more about our other sharks, skates and rays including taking part in eggcase hunts with wildlife experts to help gather vital information on these creatures of the deep.

Cheryl Nicholson, marine officer for the North West Wildlife Trusts said: “It’s sometimes hard to imagine that beyond Morecambe Bay or the industrial hubs along the Dee and the Mersey, there are truly amazing marine creatures below the surf.

“Many of us enjoy watching dolphins or seals, but just below the surf there’s one of the biggest fish in the world.”

Join the team from Cheshire Wildlife Trust on August 5 at Wirral Country Park from 10am.