They may have a reputation as gentle giants but you could risk serious injury if you disturb one.

A foolhardy paddle boarder could find himself in hot water after he was spotted jumping in to Port Erin bay close to a basking shark - too close.

The startled shark thrashed its tail as it dived to escape the intruder.

DEFA say they will be passing information about the incident to the police. Disturbing a basking shark is illegal under the Wildlife Act.

The spell of hot weather has resulted in a bloom of zooplankton which has lured in a shoal of basking sharks to Manx waters.

There has been a flood of sightings reports over the past week or so to Manx Basking Shark Watch.

Jackie Hall from the organisation said: ’It’s been brilliant. A lot of people have had an amazing experience.

’We reckon there are about seven basking sharks but possibly 12. But this is only an estimate. They’ve mostly been seen off Port Erin, Niarbyl and off the Calf.’

Jackie said the vast majority of people have been respectful. But the incident in Port Erin at the weekend initially made her very angry.

She said: ’My telephone started to ring and Facebook started to ping.

’This man was seen jumping in very close to a basking shark from his paddle board. Its tail came up and thrashed as it tried to get away. He could have been killed.

’Basking sharks are massive. It’s not unusual to have one 7-8m in length.

’Shark skin is the same as shark teeth. They used to use it for sandpaper. It’s covered in a million dentricles which are like tiny shark teeth. The leading edge of the tail is like a knife.’

Jackie stressed that it is not illegal to swim with basking sharks but it is illegal to disturb them.

’In this case, it wasn’t the closeness that was the problem. It was the fact that he disturbed the shark. People were trying to dissuade him before he got there.

’When he was confronted by somebody later, he said he had done it earlier in Fleshwick and didn’t startle the shark then.’

Dr Peter Duncan at DEFA said: ’We will be passing information on to the police. It’s clearly a matter for them.

’Summer is here and the sharks have arrived.

’We need to raise awareness about how people interact with them.’