Photos of basking shark off Land's End, Cornwall by kayaker

Rupert Kirkwood, 61, is known as the lone kayaker and spends his time paddling out to sea to document marine wildlife.

He regularly encounters dolphins, porpoises and whales – but was stunned when he found himself surrounded by no less than five basking sharks on Sunday morning while off Land's End.

One of the huge creatures even came straight at him – dipping under his kayak and leaving a permanent mark.

Rupert said: "Conditions were a bit choppy and cold so I stuck close to the coast and it was lucky I did.

"I saw an enormous triangular black fin moving slowly across the surface about half a mile ahead. This was the first basking shark I had seen since 2013 – more than 17,000 miles of paddling ago.

The sharks were spotted off Land's End. Picture: Rupert Kirkwood / SWNS

"I cautiously approached and stopped because I did not want to frighten the shark.

"But it clearly wasn't worried about frightening me, because it came straight towards me and dipped under my kayak, scuffing the hull with its dorsal fin.

"It was staggeringly huge, far, far wider than my kayak and approximately 20ft long.

"It circled round several more times to check me out and then wandered off along the line of plankton.

"It was an absolutely thrilling experience. I was sitting at water level looking up at the top of the huge fin, as the gentle giant swept past."

Rupert described the sharks as 'staggering'. Picture: Rupert Kirkwood / SWNS

Rupert said they were scattered along about three miles of coastline near Land's End.

He added: "This was my first kayak visit to the area this year, and I was very excited because it usually produces some sort of fantastic wildlife encounter such as dolphins, porpoises, Choughs or maybe even a whale.

One of the sharks dipped under his kayak scuffing the hull with its fin.Picture: Rupert Kirkwood / SWNS

"I came across four more basking sharks during my twelve-mile kayak trip during the morning.

"How fantastic that these huge fish, second only in size to a whale shark, have returned to Cornish waters, especially as there were fears that they had fallen victim to global warming after failing to show up over the last few years."