Basking Shark Conference for Isle of Man

A Conference: Basking Sharks: A Global Perspective: The Manx Government, Manx Basking Shark Watch and the Save our Seas Foundation are hosting a conference, “BASKING SHARKS: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE” on the Isle of Man August 3rd-6th 2009. Experts in basking shark tagging, genetics and conservation will come from around the world to discuss ways to study, conserve and manage this wonderful animal. It will be followed by the UK Wildlife Trusts’ Basking Shark Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) meeting at the same venue.

For more information visit

Monday’s event update

Details have now been finalised for the first event of Queenie Festival 2009.

When: Monday 29 June 2009
Theme: Fishing into the past
Venue: Mount Tabor Hall , Port St Mary
Time: 6.00 pm

Brian Goldie is organising a photographic display in Mount Tabor Hall on the them of “ A Day in the Life of Port St Mary “ the Southern Photographic Club were commissioned in millennium year, 1979 to picture the village through a typical day – from the bread going in the oven at Faragher’s Bakery to the last man swaying out of the Albert!

The display will highlight the many changes to Port St Mary and also show important fishing was to the community. The display will remain open at Mount Tabor until the evening of Wednesday 31 July to allow the public time to view it at their leisure.

Our fisheries minister Mr Phil Gawne has very kindly organised some traditional music and dance and there will also be stalls selling food and refreshments plus some demonstrations of the skills used in the fishing industry in bygone years.

During the evening there will be a walking re enactment reflecting on the changing aspects of Manx fishing through the years, showing the importance of the Mackerel and Herring industry and the emergence of the Manx Queenie fishery following the closure of the Irish sea Herring grounds.

If anyone is interested in getting involved and helping out please contact dawn.maddrell@gov.im

Anyone wishing to take part in the walk should register on arrival and they will then be given a start time, the walk will take approximately 1 hour and the cost will be £1 for adults and free for children. Please be early to register for the walk as places will be limited.

The Albert pub will also be hosting a Manx language evening courtesy of Adrian Cain – no doubt accompanied by the odd local brew!

All in all this should be a great opener to the Isle of Man Queenie Festival and a way in which the village can play their part.

Isle of Man Queenie Festival Dates 2009

We have just had confirmation of the dates of the 2009 Isle of Man Queenie Festival! Yes work has already started on planning for next years event which we hope will be bigger and better than our first year.

The 2009 Queenie Festival will be another week long celebration taking place between the 29 June and 5 July 2009. Once again the festival will conclude with the hugely popular Marine Day Festival of the Sea down at Island Seafare’s Paddy’s Market on the quay in Port St Mary.

We are working on finalising the week of activities and once they have been agreed we will let you know what’s on and where it will all be taking place.

Hope you will come and join in the fun!

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Hairy Biker’s 3FM Radio Adverts

Just been sent MP3 versions of the Marine Day Radio Adverts so in case you haven’t heard them and fancy a listen just click below. Really great that the Hairy Biker’s picked up the phone to leave the first message!

See you Saturday…

Hairy Biker’s Marine Day 3FM Radio Advert

3FM Marine Day Radio Advert Version 1

3FM Marine Day Radio Advert Version 2

Radio ads featuring The Hairy Bikers get the word out!

Not only are the Hairy Biker Si and Dave coming down to the Marine Day, but we managed to grab them during their busy schedule to get the buzz going out and about around the island with some great Marine Day adverts playing on air in the run up to the day. Tune in to 3FM for all the latest Queenie Festival and Marine Day updates and interviews. Or listen to the ads here!

Not long now!

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.

3FM to support Isle of Man Queenie Festival & Marine Day

A big thank you to all the team at 3FM for getting behind the Queenie Festival and Marine Day ‘A Festival of the Sea.’ The 3FM team will be out and about promoting the events and raising awareness about Queenie’s and if they are lucky enough will even be venturing out on a local fishing trip to see how they are caught. Fingers crossed for a calm day!

In the lead up to Marine Day they will be featuring interviews with the organisers on air and will also be giving details on what will be happening and when down at Port St Mary on the 9th August.

The 3FM Road Runner and PR girls will be attending the Marine Day with loads of give aways and also reporting back to the studio on the days events.

Thanks guys, its great to have your support!

Marine Day ‘Schedule of Events’ announced

The Schedule of events for Marine Day “A festival of the sea” on 9th August 2008 has now gone up on the Marine Day page of this site. We are absolutely delighted with the list of guests appearing and are sure that the program of events will make for an absolutely fantastic day out.

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.