Basking Shark Fun Facts
Basking sharks are enormous sharks with an unusual way of finding food. Instead of chasing large animals, they swim through the ocean with their mouths open and collect tiny drifting animals from the water. These gentle giants can travel long distances and dive deep below the surface.
What Makes Basking Sharks Amazing?
The basking shark is the second-largest fish in the world. Only the whale shark grows larger. Even though basking sharks can reach enormous sizes, they feed mostly on tiny drifting animals called zooplankton.
Basking Shark Historical Facts
- The name basking shark came from people seeing these sharks swimming slowly near the ocean’s surface. Long ago, people thought they were basking in the sun.
- Basking sharks belong to the same shark order as great white sharks and mako sharks.
- Basking sharks are filter feeders. Their huge mouths and special gill structures allow them to collect tiny animals from the water.
- Scientists study living sharks, fossils, and DNA to learn how basking sharks are related to other sharks.
Basking Shark Habitat Facts
- Basking sharks live in cooler ocean waters around the world.
- They are found in parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in other waters around the world.
- Basking sharks can live near coastlines or far out in the open ocean.
- They often appear near the surface when large amounts of food are available.
- Basking sharks do not stay near the surface all the time. They also travel into deeper water.
- Some basking sharks travel hundreds or thousands of miles between different parts of the ocean.
Basking Shark Behavior Facts
- Basking sharks are usually slow, steady swimmers.
- They may spend hours swimming near the surface while feeding.
- Basking sharks are often seen alone, but several may gather where there is plenty of food.
- A feeding basking shark swims forward with its enormous mouth wide open.
- Water enters the shark’s mouth and passes across its gills. Special gill rakers help collect tiny animals from the water.
- Unlike whale sharks, basking sharks do not actively suck water into their mouths. They swim forward to keep water moving through their mouths and across their gills.
- Basking sharks give birth to live young called pups.
- Scientists still know very little about where basking sharks mate and give birth because these events are rarely seen.
Basking Shark Conservation Facts
- For many years, people hunted basking sharks for their fins, liver oil, meat, and other products.
- Basking shark numbers dropped greatly in some areas because of hunting.
- Basking sharks can become caught accidentally in fishing gear. This is called bycatch.
- Boats can be dangerous to basking sharks when the sharks swim or feed near the surface.
- Basking sharks grow slowly and take many years to become adults, so their populations can take a long time to recover after declines.
- Protecting important feeding areas and reducing accidental catches and boat strikes can help protect basking sharks.
- Scientists track basking sharks to learn where they travel and which ocean areas are important to them.