Wildlife Chronicles

AN AMAZING SUMMER’S NIGHT by Isla Macdonald

One of my most incredible experiences in the Hebrides happened one July evening in 1999, at Dalmore beach on the west coast of Lewis. I had taken the week off work to follow the Celtic Surf Festival Competition which was happening on the beaches of Lewis and the weather was so fantastic that we decided to camp over at Dalmore in our campervan, instead of returning to Stornoway for the night. A number of friends also decided to camp over, so the early evening was spent barbequing, kayaking around the bay and swimming in the sea. The sea was incredibly calm, which is unusual for Dalmore and there was barely a ripple on the water. We were all sitting around the campfire in the evening, relaxing and admiring the incredible sunset - which was a gorgeous deep red and pink with not a cloud in the sky.

Someone suddenly spotted a dark fin moving across the shimmering bay and shouted ‘I saw a fin!’. At first we all laughed assuming they were on the wind up because the kayakers had just come out of the water 30 minutes before. Sure enough it reappeared gliding across the bay in a slow and controlled movement, weaving its way towards the shore. We all ran down to the shore’s edge and joined a couple who had previously being doing Tye Chi on the beach. Dalmore bay is usually a surf beach but this night it was still and at high tide on this steep shore, the shark was able to get within 3 metres of us.

It swam horizontally across the bay, right next to the shore line and it was so close we could see its nose, lifted out of the waters as it was feeding, and its underside, as it turned in the water to retrace its path. We were all spell bound watching the shark, which was about 5 metres in length with its nose, fin and tail (and underside when turning) above the surface line. It was moving so slowly, totally oblivious to our presence that we felt like we could reach out and touch it. Although at first it looked sinister, with its dark black fin surfacing and its tail wagging behind like a jaws film, watching this gentle creature with its slow and controlled movements and almost playful behaviour, you really felt compassion for them.

The basking shark remained in the bay for about 40 minutes, of which we all watched every second. It was a fantastic end to a great night and I will certainly never forget the experience.