Isle of Man Queenie Festival travel breaks announced

We are really pleased to announce that Isle of Man Queenie Festival has teamed up with isleofmanbreaks.com courtesy of Regency Travel.

From 2 day breaks to long weekends why not come an join in the fun and celebrate fine food, stunning nature and leisure and sports on the Isle of Man as part of the Queenie Festival 2009.

Check out Isle of Man Queenie Festival breaks.

Great Marine and Basking Shark Photographs added

Check out our Images page for the latest photographs of Isle of Man Marine life and Basking Sharks.

Lots of thanks to all who have contributed photographs.

Isle of Man Marine Facts – Basking Sharks

We will hopefully develop this site into a great resource for all to use. To educate, inform and make people proud and understand the importance of the sea around the Isle of Man and the key role it has to play in our lives. That’s the reason why we celebrate Marine Day.

So to start the ball rolling we will keep putting up regular facts about the sea around the Isle of Man.

Fact 1

Did you know that the waters of the Isle of Man are home to one of the worlds largest concentrations of Basking Sharks. Bet you didnt know that!

Fact 2

Did you know that the Basking Shark is the second largest fish in the world!

Don’t you feel lucky to live or come on holiday here!

Fact 3

A Basking shark can grow up to 11. 5 meters and even weigh over 7 tonnes!

Apparently the best places to spot them are off the west coast of the island, you can see them from the shore if they are close in, but its best out in a boat.

Fact 4

Basking sharks eat plankton and are harmless to humans. Their huge mouths contain thousands of mucous covered gill rakers that filter plankton out of the water. Basking sharks swim just below the surface of the water, filtering out the plankton.

Fact 5

A Basking shark can filter the amount of water needed to fill a 50m swimming pool in roughly one hour! Thats amazing!

The Manx Wildlife Trust run a scheme called the Manx Basking Shark Watch, the team who co-ordinate this do an amazing job and they are incrediby committed to finding out more about these fascinating creatures and their habits. For more information log onto Manx Basking Shark Watch.

They will also be attending Marine Day on the 9th August, so look out for their stand.

Cool Seas Roadshow hits the Isle of Man schools

It’s great to see the fantastic work the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Education are doing to promote the marine wildlife and marine conservation in the local primary schools this week, a similar aim of the organisers of Marine Day.

A full report is featured on IOM Newspapers.

BBC Springwatch Sea Life programme

The BBC’s Springwatch series on Tuesday night covered Sea Life and included a good eight minute feature on the Isle of Man.

Due to the vagaries of landings over the years Manx Fishermen have worked on technical conservation regulations in order to ensure that stocks have remained robust. These have included restrictions on fishing times, closed seasons and limitations on the amount of dredges permitted. The Island also has two areas in Manx waters, one that has been in place since 1989 and the other created in 2008, that are closed to mobile fishing. These are supported by the fishing industry and indeed the impetus for the Douglas closed area was started by the fishermen. Data analysis seems to support the viability of these areas’.

You can re-watch the programme here: BBC Springwatch Sea Life programme.