Afriend and I were enjoying a dram or two of Highland whisky on the Isle of Eigg when we spotted something sticking out of the water. Reaching for the binoculars, we soon picked out something else a good few metres behind it. This was my first glimpse of a basking shark. But reading Isla Hodgson’s feature (p40), I was struck by how little we actually know about these gentle giants.
As we continue to produce this magazine from our homes, such wildlife encounters seem as far away as that Hebridean island. But distance being no distance when it comes to nature, this
spring I found myself becoming increasingly intrigued by the variety of bees within a mile of my front door. So, with there being no time like the present, now seemed the perfect time to head back a few million years to the Cretaceous and uncover the evolutionary story of what Thor Hanson so delightfully calls ‘the hippy wasp’ (p52).
Sláinte mhath!

Paul McGuinness – Editor

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• Baking Heaven – July-August 2020
• National Geographic Traveller UK – July-August 2020