Basking Sharks are Britain’s largest wild visitor and the second largest shark and fish in the world. From May to October they can be seen in Cornwall, Isle of Man and the west coast of Scotland.

When feeding on plankton they open their mouths up to an incredible one metre wide and filter around two million litres of water through their gills every hour. Basking sharks are classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.

Orcas are the largest species of the dolphin family, weighing up to 6 tonnes and growing up to 9.7 meters. Apex predators they live in pods with around 40 members. There are two different types of pods; resident pods which are less aggressive and prefer fish, and transient pods that hunt together like wolf packs and are more aggressive.

Britain's only resident orca population are in Scotland, known as the ‘west coast community’. Tragically in 2017, Lulu, a 6.2m Orca died when she became entangled in fishing rope - Lulu drowned, leaving only 8 orcas in the pod.

Puffins are small charismatic seabirds growing to 18cm tall, they spend most of their lives at sea. Their range spans from the east coast of North America to the west coast of Europe, Britain being their most southern edge. Britain is home to around 580,00 breeding pairs from April to July. They can fly at speeds of 55mph, flapping their wings 400 times a minute, they dive 60 meters underwater in search of fish. Puffins beaks change colour from dull grey in winter to orange in spring to help attract mates. Puffins mate with the same partner for life, digging a burrow 60 - 90 cm’s for their family home. Puffin populations are threatened by overfishing and now plastic pollution is adding to their plight.

Britain is home to over 40% of the world’s population of northern gannets with an estimated 293,161 breeding pairs in Britain. They have a wing span of 165-180cm, fly at speeds of 60mph and dive around 15m under water to catch fish - which they usually swallow before resurfacing.

Plastic pollution is becoming a major issue for gannets, it’s common to find them entangled in plastic pollution such as fishing gear and in Alderney’s gannet colony, 8,000 gannet nests were found contaminated with plastic pollution.

Related to the albatross, Britain has a population of 500,000 pairs of Fulmars. They live up to 44 years and apart from when breeding, they spend most of their time at sea. Plastic pollution poses a serious threat to fulmars, 58% of North Sea fulmars were found with more than 0.1 g of plastic in their stomachs. Nearly all fulmars in the north sea have ingested some plastic. Despite foraging near the water’s surface, their stomachs contained plastic commonly found in deep water, this has been explained by an indirect ingestion through consumption of their prey.

Grey seals are the larger of the two UK seal species and most commonly seen in Norfolk, Cornwall and the Scottish coasts. Britain’s grey seal populations are 112,000, which is almost half of the worlds population! Spending most of their time at sea feeding on fish, they return to land to ‘haul out’ and rest. Growing between1.5 - 3.5metres they’re the largest breeding mammal in Britain. Unable to breath underwater, they slow their heart rates down to conserve oxygen, allowing them to dive for up to 16 minutes and to depths of 70 metres. Grey seals swim at 6mph but can have bursts of speed up to 22 mph. Solo hunters, they form large ‘rookeries’ during the breeding season.

Britain has a population of 30,334 harbour seals (also known as common seals) abundant in northern waters but rare elsewhere. Harbour seals have large eyes to see in deep, dark waters, and long necks which they can shoot out to catch fish quickly. They can live in both fresh and saltwater, and often spend their entire lives in an area of roughly five miles. They can dive up to 30 metres, slowing their heart rates to 3-4pbm. Unfortunately the existence of harbour seals is already under threat, and plastic pollution is adding to this for both grey and harbour seals. They’re consuming plastic pollution leading to starvation, and they’re also becoming entangled in fishing gear which can lead to strangulation or infections caused by cuts and wounds. 

The common mussel lives on rocky, sandy or muddy shores, from the low tide mark and in shallow seas all around the UK. Biological differences are that female mussels have orange mantles whilst the males’ ones are white. Mussels are an important food source for many creatures, including, starfish, flatfish, crabs, sea birds and humans. Mussels filter up to 20 gallons of water a day and with this they’re taking in micro plastics. Micro plastics, which are increasing in our oceans, have proven to be an issue for mussel populations affecting their ability to attach themselves to their surroundings, potentially having a devastating impact on ocean ecosystems. Furthermore studies have found 70 particles of microplastics found in every 100 grams of mussels.