Divers seek new pictures of shark

A team of American film makers is to track basking sharks off the coast of west Cornwall.

The crew will be the first to test new diving equipment which they hope will increase their chances of getting high quality footage.

A light aircraft will be scouting the area to try to locate the creatures.

Local dive schools say they have received a surge in inquiries from film makers keen to uncover the secrets of the sharks' migration patterns.

An experienced dive master from the Lizard, Mike Anselmi will be helping the film crew in their search for the sharks.

We hope to get more footage of these wonderful creatures Mike Anselmi

He said; "For the first time ever, we're actually going to try and film them in water.

"When I say in water I don't mean snorkel and mask I mean in diving gear.

"We're hoping to get some underside footage. As you can imagine, when you're snorkelling, most of the footage is on the surface looking down on the shark or straight at the shark."

The team is researching the migration patterns of basking sharks between Cornwall and Scotland.

They will use a special type of re-breather pioneered by the Helston firm AP Valves.

Joanna Doyle, marine conservation officer for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, welcomed this approach.

She said: Re-breathers are quite a good dive method as they don't produce any noise so they will actually minimise the impact on the basking sharks.

"So, as long as they keep a safe distance they won't be disturbing them."

The team will spend five days searching the coastline around the Lizard peninsula, down to Lands End, and up the north coast.