Marine Wildlife
One of the great appeals of the Isle of Man is that without too much effort you can see a wonderful variety of wildlife.
Marine life is in abundance, from colonies of nesting birds filling the air with noisy chatter to 10m long basking sharks feeding only metres from the shore. Some species in decline elsewhere, such as the Mountain Hare, are thriving on the Island but most intriguingly of all, are the wallabies which frequent the northern plain, descendants of escapees from the Curraghs Wildlife Park.
Wildlife film-makers and scientists find that the Isle of Man is probably the best place in the world to watch basking sharks without even getting your feet wet! This magnificent endangered animal, the second largest fish in the world, can be up to 10m long. Fortunately for us they only eat plankton. Pick a warm sunny day when the sea is flat calm and watch them from the shore from mid-May to mid-August. Good places to watch, either with the naked eye or with binoculars, are the Calf, the Sound, Port Erin, Niarbyl or Peel Breakwater.