The first basking sharks of the year has been spotted off the coast of the Isle of Man.

The world’s second largest fish is a regular summer visitor top the island coast and feeds off plankton.

Basking sharks are most commonly seen in our waters in June and July but can be spotted between May and September.

The Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch has confirmed the first sightings have been reported in the south, off the Langness Peninsula

Posting on Facebook, it said: The Basking sharks are back in Manx waters! There have been sightings on April 29 and May 1 around the South of the Island. This is very exciting and we are keeping everything crossed for a good shark year!’

Later it added a video saying: ‘Thanks so much to Neil Garlick for sharing this video of the first basking shark this year spotted close to shore at Langness on April 29. The distinctive large dorsal fin followed by the tip of the tail make this recognisable as a basking shark.

‘Please report your sightings to us of whales, dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks using the forms on our website, and you can upload photos and videos too.’

The video shows the shark swimming very close to the rocks at Langness with the dorsal fin showing and the distinctive wide gape of its mouth sieving plankton just below the surface.

Despite their size, basking sharks only feed on zooplankton which they filter out, swimming back and forth with their enormous mouths wide open.

The life of basking sharks remains something of a mystery despite being the world’s second largest fish. Courtship behaviour has been seen off the Isle of Man so there is speculation they come here to breed.