FOUR basking sharks have been spotted in Morecambe Bay as the latest sightings to form part of this summer's major marine study.

The Solway Shark Watch aims to assess the status of basking sharks and 22 other marine species throughout the North East Irish Sea, including Morecambe Bay and along the Cumbrian Coast.

One of the project's organisers, Norman Hammond, said several sightings of the sharks - the biggest fish in UK waters - had been logged since they were first spotted last Tuesday.

Three sharks remained in the bay at the beginning of the week, near Piel Island, south of Foulney Island and into the Bay and the Kent Channel.

A fourth shark, which was seen several times from the Round House at Walney and up into the Duddon, has not been seen since the weekend.

"We're hoping to take a boat out to get a closer look at them, but we don't want to frighten them away.

If we take it carefully, we can probably keep them there for a week or two," said Mr Hammond.

He said that so far the study had gone extremely well, with other sightings of basking sharks logged in May, as well as an impressive movement of Harbour Porpoises in and around Morecambe Bay.

"We have been very lucky as many parts of the Irish Sea haven't see a single shark this year because of the weather, which means the water temperature is one-and-a-half, two degrees below what it should be.

But because it's shallow, the Morecambe Bay is quite a bit warmer."

Information gleaned from the study will be fed into the Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway and Lancashire Biodiversity Action Plans, to help achieve better conservation of the species.

l For more information about the project, call Mr Hammond on 01697-320440.

For the latest news, look at the group's website found on the Gazette's site www.thisisthelakedistrict.co.uk and press the sharkwatch button on the home page.

This is regularly updated, including a map showing sightings.

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