Young Hastings photographer goes viral with amazing shot of paddle boarder and shark

Hastings wildlife photographer Michael Amos caused a sensation when he capture a shot of a huge basking shark passing close to a paddleboarder.
Basking shark and paddle boarder SUS-210824-095316001Basking shark and paddle boarder SUS-210824-095316001
Basking shark and paddle boarder SUS-210824-095316001

Michael, who turned 21 this month, captured the striking image when working on his portfolio in Cornwall.

It went viral on social media and was featured in the online editions of several national newspapers, including the Mail, the Sun and the Mirror.

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Michael said: “While watching basking sharks from the cliffs at Porthcurno in Cornwall, I noticed a paddleboarder watching a shark swimming right next to his paddleboard. The paddleboarder was in no way alarmed and instead appeared ecstatic at what he was seeing.”

Basking sharks, though huge, are not a threat to humans and feed on plankton.

Michael has returned to Hastings after spending three years in Cornwall studying at Falmouth University, where he was awarded a degree in Marine and Natural History Photography.

You can view Michael’s photo when he holds his first exhibition, called Sea and Air, opening at the Twelve Hundred Postcards micropub in Queens Road, Hastings, on Friday August 27. It runs until September 15.

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Michael said: “The exhibition will include photos of wildlife taken both locally and also further afield, featuring animals like basking sharks, seals and dolphins. This is the first exhibition I have ever done, so I am really excited to showcase my work and allow people to admire

photos of some of Britain’s most exciting wildlife.”

Michael’s photo of a basking shark off the Cornish coast will be featured on the sleeve of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s new album ‘Surrender of Silence’, which will be released in September.

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