A project tagging basking sharks that gather in Scottish waters is to be extended. But in the past the sharks were not sought out by scientists but by hunters eager to harvest their prized livers. Basking sharks are true monsters of the deep. They are the world's second biggest fish - the whale shark is the largest - and can grow to 11m (36ft) and weigh up to seven tonnes. Basking sharks have no teeth and feed on microscopic plankton by opening wide their huge mouths. Every summer the sharks gather in large numbers around small islands off Scotland's west coast where they are sought out by scientists and wildlife watchers. But until 1994 they were hunted with harpoons for the oil...
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