We'd had our first encounter with a basking shark, and, metaphorically at least, this gigantic, strange beast had me firmly in its jaws. Out of our wetsuits and back on dry land, we headed for the marine laboratories at Port Erin on the south of the island to meet biologist Jill Strawbridge. Coming face to face with a basker had whetted my appetite, and I was keen to get to the bottom of some of the mysteries surrounding Cetorhinus maximus.