Amazing adventure to Coll in search of the basking shark…..

It took us an hour and a quarter to the Cairns of Coll from home and even that wasn’t wasted as we saw guilliemots and puffins along the way. Once at the infamous cairns there were some interesting currents and beautiful views of Coll itself… no sharks! we headed in towards the main island and still no sighting….

So in went our mackerel lines……hauling in our first catch and what did we see but the tell tale fin of a shark near the lighthouse. We motored over and with patience we were duly rewarded by wonderful views of an 8ft shark which was slowly making its way along the coastline feeding.

Seals lazed on the rocks nearby and cormorants watched on. We moved down the coast alittle further and we were rewarded again with a very curious basking shark who came right around our boat. What a wonderful sight we were lucky to have of this gentle giant, a large mouth for filtering, beautiful markings and a very piercing eye. Last stop, the Coll Hotel in Arinagour for a delicious lunch and then home across the water to Mull.

This trip was done in our own boat but there are very good organised trips from Tobermory to Coll to see Basking sharks, dolphins, porpoises and minke whales as well as abundant seabird life.

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