These incredible underwater photographs capture the moment the first sharks of the year were spotted off the British coast.
The magnificent basking sharks swim with their giant mouths open – filtering 2,000 tons of water per hour for plankton and fish.
The two adult and three young sharks were captured on film and are the first seen in British waters in 2010.
Photographer Charles Hood spotted them between Sennen and Gwenvor in Cornwall while out diving on Tuesday.
He said: ”We usually find them by asking local fishermen and they tell us where they’ll be. These are the very first sightings this year.
”This is right at the start of the season – they tend to start arriving about now, and when the weather warms up they peak around mid-June.”
Charles spotted three baby basking sharks measuring around three metres in length – and two adults measuring six metres.
The animals – the second largest living shark after the whale shark – are found in all the world’s temperate oceans.
They are slow moving and generally harmless but can be dangerous because they often whip their strong tails in the water.