It must have been the good weather that brought a school of basking sharks to bask in the unusually still waters of Killala Bay last week.

The big fish — some as long as 20 feet — came in close to the shore at Enniscrone and were also seen quite close to the pier on two mornings last week.

And just in case would-be swimmers are getting worried this species of shark has no teeth and are what are known as filter feeders.

The pictures were taken by Ballina man John Curry who is a keen amateur wildlife photographer and who said, on this occasion, he was ably assisted by boatman Pat Colleary, Enniscrone, on board Saoirse.

John Curry says that basking sharks have been in Killala Bay in the past but fishermen told him they usually only got one or two in recent years.

“I photographed four of them but fishermen told me there were nine in the bay. They just cruise under the surface. It is amazing to see them, not to mind photograph them,” he said.

The biggest was in excess of twenty feet and the smallest about fourteen feet.

“Pat Colleary was brilliant in anticipating where they would swim to and he just left the boat in line and they came quite close to it,” he said.

The sharks swim under the surface with their mouths open and they filter plankton from the water. John Curry said one of the big fish was feeding in three or four feet of water and must have been belly scraping on the bottom.