A student who got up close and personal with basking sharks off the Westcountry coast has turned his spectacular underwater footage into a revealing film of the creatures.

Simon Greenwood, a conservation student, shot the footage of the giants of the deep on an underwater camera off the coast of Cornwall last month.

It has now been edited into a short film which is being played to hundreds of visitors to the Blue Reef Aquarium at Newquay as part of their "Shark Week" celebrations as well as on the Internet site Youtube.

He said: "It was an incredible experience to be able to get so close to such magnificent creatures.

"It was the first time I had been able to dive with basking sharks and to have these true giants of the deep literally just off the coast from Newquay is incredible."

The filming took place while Simon, and fellow Cornwall College student Dan Brewer, were on board Chris Lowe's boat the Atlantic Diver.

"Hopefully the short film, along with the still photographs that Dan took, will enable many more people to share in such an extraordinary wildlife encounter.

"At no time were the sharks harassed in any way. To get this footage I watched how and where the sharks were moving. I then waited for them to come to me," Simon added.

Basking sharks are the second largest species of shark in the world and a regular summer visitor to Westcountry waters. They can grow up to 10 metres in length and weigh more than seven tonnes, making them the largest wild animal routinely seen in British seas.

Occasionally giant shoals numbering several hundred sharks have been spotted just off shore.

It is thought they come inshore over the summer months both in search of food and to find a mate.