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Wales is surrounded on three sides by the ocean. To the north and west is the Irish Sea and to the south is the Bristol Channel.

Off the Welsh coast warm water from the Caribbean collides with colder water from the north. These warm waters also bring nutrients which are a great source of food. During the summer months lots of sea creatures make their way to our shores to feast in these nutrient rich waters. This attracts many predators, or hunters.

Beneath the surface

During the summer months the deep oceans around Wales are home to lots of marine visitors such as basking sharks, fin whales and numerous different species of fish. They come searching for plankton, small fish and squid.

• Size
  Fin whales are the second largest mammal in the world after the blue whale. They can grow to be 26 meters long.

• Diet
  Fin whales eat crustaceans, squid and fish.

• Did you know?
  Fin whales can live for an impressive 90 years.

• Size
  This is our largest visiting fish. It can grow to be more than 10 meters long, the same size as a double decker bus.

• Diet
  Basking sharks eat some of the smallest creatures in the ocean. They survive on a diet of plankton, microscopic plants and animals. They swim into the current with their huge mouths wide open ready to feed.

• Did you know?
  Despite their size and appearance Basking sharks do not pose a threat to humans. However, it is not recommended you go near them.

• Size
  Sunfish are round and flat, they look like giant heads or plates. They can be over 3 meters long and have huge fins on top and under their bodies.

• Diet
  Sunfish feast on a diet of jellyfish.

• Did you know?
  Sunfish are often spotted resting on their sides on the surface of the sea, enjoying the sunshine - which is where the name sunfish comes from.

This wealth of marine life also brings many predators to our shores. Predators live by hunting, killing and eating other animals for food. These fearsome predators can be spotted off the coast of Wales throughout the summer months.

• How to spot them
  These torpedo shaped sharks have very long front fins. They can usually be found about 10 miles offshore.

• Prey
  As well as hunting fish and squid, blue sharks are scavengers. This means that they’ll find and eat animals that are already dead.

• Size
  Blue sharks grow to be over 3 meters long.

• Did you know?
  Blue sharks have an amazing sense of smell. This allows them to detect blood from miles and miles away.

• How to spot them
  Torpedo shaped bluefin tunas are really fast. They can travel at speeds of 40 miles an hour, the speed of a car.

• Prey
  They are tremendous predators. They hunt for fish like herring, mackerel, and even eels. They have incredible eyesight and they can swallow their prey whole.

• Size
  Some tuna can grow to be as large as polar bears.

• Did you know?
  Bluefish tuna need to move all the time. Just like sharks, they rely on a constant flow of water over their gills to obtain oxygen.

• How to spot them
  They are very sociable and are usually found in groups of hundreds or thousands, travelling, playing and eating together. These groups are called pods.

• Prey
  They eat small fish such as mackerel, anchovies, lanternfish, sprats, squid and octopus.

• Size
  These dolphins can grow up to 2.5 meters long.

• Did you know?
  Dolphins use echolocation. This means they make sounds to build a picture of their surroundings.

Spotting predators like blue sharks, tuna and dolphins in the deep oceans around Wales is a really positive sign. This tells us that our seas are healthy and that there is plenty of prey for them to feast on.

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