Common Eel

Photos courtesy of
Paul Naylor
www.marinephoto.co.uk

The Irish Sea supports many species of fish, including the Basking Shark, the second largest species of fish in the world. If you'd like to help with monitoring basking sharks in the eastern Irish Sea contact Solway Shark Watch at: www.communigate.co.uk/lakes/solwaysharkwatch/index.phtml. (They also monitor whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and not just in the Solway Firth!).

Sea Trout, Atlantic Salmon and the rare Twaite Shad are species of fish that feed in the Irish Sea but spawn in rivers. The Common Eel does the opposite. It feeds in rivers but migrates through the Irish Sea from and to its Atlantic spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea, to the west of Central America. All three species appear to be in decline.