Loch Ranza Bay- And the manner of taking the basking shark, Plate XIII in Thomas Pennant, Tour of Scotland, vol II

Thomas Pennant, who had included an engraving of the basking shark in his 'British Zoology' (1766), was the first writer to record their presence in Scottish waters. His vivid account of the use of a harpoon in fishing stemmed from an encounter at Lochranza, on the Isle of Arran, with a recently harpooned ‘monster’ measuring over 27 feet long. It hints at his interest in traditional fishing methods with a view to encourage the development of a west-coast fishing industry.