Where and When To Go Diving with Basking Sharks
Alex MustardA basking shark in the Hebrides of Scotland
With its mouth gaping, scooping up gobs of plankton, the basking shark looks like something straight out of a midnight science-fiction flick. But it’s that behavior that makes swimming along-side Cetorhinus maximus — the second-largest living fish at a max of about 30 feet — and photographing it so special. And if you spot basking sharks — which school as they follow plankton to the Hebrides archipelago off the northwest coast of Scotland — you’ll have the chance to see the slow-swimming fish feeding near the surface of the water. Even if you get skunked, dolphins, seals and whales are also known to frequent these north Atlantic islands.
When to go:
April to October
Where to go:
Bring This
Courtesy of BackscatterA top-of-the-line underwater camera rig
This system cuts down on bulk but still offers a super-fast shooting speed of 11 frames per second.
Camera: Sony a6300
Lens: Sony Alpha 16mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens and fisheye converter
Housing: Nauticam NA-A6300
Dome port: Nauticam N85 4.33-inch fisheye
Price: $3,724.97
