From basking sharks to killer whales — the UK’s best spots for a wildlife safari
A SAFARI in Africa may be off the cards for now but there’s a wealth of wildlife right here at home just waiting to be explored once lockdown lifts.
Here Lisa Minot goes on a whistle-stop tour around the UK to show you how you can spot everything from whales to red squirrels along our coasts and countryside.
Read on to plan your wildlife safari for when we can travel again.
Sharks in Cornwall
AS long as a double-decker bus and weighing up to seven tons, the basking shark is the world’s second-largest fish and can live for 50 years.
You are most likely to see them off the Cornish coast between May and July.
Or take a snorkelling trip with commercial diver Charles Hood from Penzance.
Prices start from £150 per day. See .
Basking sharks can also be seen off Lyme Bay, Dorset, and Cardigan Bay in Wales.
Also offering tours are Bishops Boats () and Temples ().
Also try Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, and Donna Nook, Lincs.
Otters in Lancashire
THE return of otters to British waterways is one of the country’s top conservation success stories.
Try spotting them at Aughton Woods, a remote ancient woodland on the River Lune.
Otters Den lodges at Whitechapel near Preston are great places to book for wildlife-spotting in general.
The luxury lodges are located next to a lake in the Forest of Bowland. For more details see .
Other good sites for otters include Cricklepit Mill in Devon. For details see .
For other spots to see red squirrels, check out Dorset’s Brownsea Island and Northumberland.
You’ll also see puffins at Farne Islands, Northumberland and along the North Cornish coast but would have to take to the waters to see them.
Humpback whales in The Moray Firth
MAJESTIC humpback whales, or minke whales, have been spotted in this Scottish wildlife haven, as have vast pods of dolphins, porpoise and grey seals.
Whales have also been seen off the Hebrides and Fife.
Killer whales in The Shetlands
WITH sightings of orcas or killer whales increasingly common in the Shetland Islands off Scotland, there are now a number of wildlife holidays that incorporate trying to spot them.
Shetland Seabird Tours runs tours daily from April to October from Lerwick and includes cruises around Bressay and Noss.
Dolphins in Anglesey
DOLPHIN sightings are common along the shores of Anglesey off the north-west coast of Wales.
Harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins regularly visit the island’s coast.
The harbour porpoise sticks to the shallow waters closer to shore making it easier for them to spot but the bottlenose breach the waters for a spectacular display.
Seacoast Safaris offers tours from Beaumaris on the eastern corner of Anglesey to Puffin Island, an uninhabited protected wildlife habitat with a host of nesting sites for breeding sea birds.
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Dolphins are also regularly spotted off the Land’s End peninsula and St Ives Bay in Cornwall.
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