Great White Shark Sightings Off Scotland As Sub-Trop Species Move North

[hatrack]

"Almost 30 years after the film Jaws terrorised swimmers across the world, those who comfortably assumed that the UK's chilly waters were as safe as they were grey might have to think again. Experts from the Shark Trust are investigating a number of sightings of great white sharks swimming off the west coast of Scotland. Sharks are just one of several species thought to be migrating north due to rising sea temperatures around the UK. The warmer waters are having a dramatic effect on the marine population, with sub-tropical species such as seahorses and leatherback turtles being spotted in northern waters.

And the great whites, which can tolerate temperatures of about 6C, are believed to be following their food sources north. Following reports last year of a sighting off Cornwall, Richard Peirce, a director and trustee of the trust, has been gathering evidence from divers convinced they have seen the sharks in Scottish waters. He said: "Scottish waters are well within their temperature tolerance range - some of the waters off the Cape in South Africa are cooler.

EDIT

In the North Atlantic and North Sea, where cod stocks have been driven to crisis point by climate change, more exotic sub-tropical varieties of fish have been reported. Tuna, red mullet, horse mackerel, pilchards, squid, John Dory, seahorses and leatherback turtles are all increasingly finding their way north. It is estimated that some sub-tropical species have been migrating north at a rate of 50km a year and the instance of leatherback turtles finding their way to Britain has increased in the last few years with sightings now as far north as Banff in the Moray Firth. The leatherbacks feed on jellyfish and these are also becoming more common around the northern shores of the UK as the water warms up.

But global warming also means higher temperatures on land as well and changes in wildlife across the country. Throughout the UK, different species of moths, butterflies, birds, and insects have been reported establishing new colonies from the south coast of England as they gradually move north across the country."

EDIT

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=529300

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. As a comparison for the USA, Ullapool

is about 50 miles further south than Juneau, Alaska.

[XNASA]

2. Mullets? Leatherbacks? Great White?

"Once bitten, twice shy, babe."