Loved-up basking sharks off Scotland’s west coast have been filmed from the air using a drone for the first time.
Isle of Mull-based Sea Life Surveys said it had observed about 100 of the creatures off Coll.
It launched a drone and then a member of the crew took to the water to snorkel with the animals to capture their movements beneath the surface.
The area is a well-known spot for basking sharks looking to find a mate, with consistently large numbers sighted there during the summer months.
In Gunna Sound between the islands of Coll and Tiree and the sea around the islands of Canna and Hyskeir, four times as many basking sharks have been recorded per hour than anywhere else in the UK.
Sea Life Surveys has operated a whale, porpoise, shark and dolphin watch for more than 30 years, developing a marine survey and education programme which is recognised internationally.
“There are a lot of basking sharks around at the moment,” said Richard Darby, manager of the Tobermory-based company.
“It was quite incredible and spectacular. We couldn’t believe it. It is the first time we have used a drone and the results were amazing.
“We recently had a basking shark so big it was almost as long as out boat which is 42ft. It seems they really have gathered here in the last few weeks – after a previous quiet period for them.”
Earlier sightings of Britain’s biggest fish had fallen dramatically off the west coast and Hebrides – one of its major haunts – apparently because of the poor summer.
But the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust said sightings had now picked up.
Despite their size, surprisingly little is known about the life history of basking sharks, partly because of the difficulty of conducting field research on an animal which spends most of its life out of sight, deep underwater.