Basking sharks have been scarce around the island this year.

There has been one recorded sighting of a lone basking shark so far this month.

Basking sharks are mostly seen around the south west coast of the island as this is where the majority of their preferred food is.

There are a number of reasons why basking sharks haven’t been seen around the island recently.

Jackie Hall from the Manx Basking Shark society believes climate change, natural variation or the western link cable could all be a reason why.

She said: ’Most of my theories are very unpopular.

’My first theory is natural variation, which is what we expect from migrating species like crabs and mackerel.

’Migrations can be forced by large disturbances and then brought back.

’I had a friend, who in World War Two, didn’t see any basking sharks throughout the war period, and then they slowly started coming back afterwards.

’The second theory is climate change as the water is significantly warmer than usual and has gone up by a degree or two in recent years.

’Basking sharks prefer to eat where cool water meets warmer as this is where their food, a specific type of plankton, lives.

’The type of plankton that they eat is copepods, which are about the size of half a grain of rice and they prefer colder climates.

’My third theory is that the undersea western link cable is preventing the basking sharks from finding food.

’It was a bit of a coincidence that numbers plummeted once the cable was switched on. The basking sharks are after food and they tend to follow where the food is and their noses are hypersensitive to smell the food and the electric charge in it.

’There’s something about the Irish sea and whether it’s the temperature, and therefore it’s the food stopping them, or if it’s building that’s going on which means they can’t smell the food.

’The trouble is that it could be a mix of all of the above rather than definitely one.’

The society aren’t worried about them not coming above the sea level as when the sea is flat and calm there’s less plankton floating around the surface, so they will dive deeper to find the food.

Jackie continued: ’’We’re still continuing research, just not here because they haven’t been here yet.

’So we’re working with ex colleagues, who are doing masters and doctorates, and professors at Queen’s University Belfast, to help solve these problems.

’The basking shark season starts early in the west coast of Ireland; they had 80 basking shark skin slide samples in two weeks.

’When they hit the south west coast of Ireland, they can either settle in the Irish Sea or go up to Scotland.’

She concluded: ’But at least the sharks aren’t killed, they’re elsewhere.

’We’re all missing them and we have to keep looking, you won’t see them if you stop looking.’