A VIDEO of several basking sharks circling the waters off the coast of Achill Island have been making waves-- excuse the pun-- on social media.
As Ireland experienced beautiful warm and sunny weather over the past few days, thousands across the country flocked to the coast to make the most of the summer by relaxing by the sea and sand.
Many chose to go to County Mayo's Achill Island, Ireland's largest island and home to the world-famous Keem Bay, which was recently named on of the greatest beaches in the world-- even beating out tropical paradises in Hawaii and Fiji.
But the Irish public aren't the only ones who fancied a trip to the gorgeous rural bay, as a video taken by John Roche shows.
In the clip, first posted to Twitter and which made its way to Reddit and other social media sites, crowds on the strand can be seen gasping and pointing as a two large fins circle the waters by the beach.
Bathers admire Basking Sharks at Keem Beach, Achill.@rtenews @VirginMediaNews @IrishTimes @CarlowWeather @MayoCoCo @ pic.twitter.com/4NCr1eel0W
— John Roche (@roche00) July 15, 2021
The clip reveals the moment beachgoers notice the massive fins gliding through the calm waters, and people can be heard shouting "Over here!" as they call their family down to watch the spectacle.
As the video goes on, more and more fins appear as the sharks feed together, and the crowds on the beach get larger, some shrieking with excitement.
Some of the braver of the gathered crowds stand in the water, getting closer to admire the animals, but most are standing well back on the safety of dry land-- because, even though basking sharks are completely harmless to humans, their massive size is enough to make even the bravest of people wary-- and the sight of fins circling the water always makes one think of the Jaws theme.
But basking sharks are, quite literally, gentle giants: they eat only krill and kelp, and can grow to over 10 metres long, making them the second-biggest fish in the sea after whale sharks-- another beast completely harmless to humans.
John Roche's fantastic clip has been viewed on Twitter almost 30,000 times, and has received well over 1,000 upvotes on Reddit, where it was shared by user lifeandtimes89.
