Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) lives in cold and temperate open ocean across North Atlantic and North Pacific. Its conservation status is Endangered.
Fascinating facts about the Basking Shark
- The basking shark is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It usually measures about 7.9 m long, with most adults ranging between 7 and 8.5 m and weighing around 4.65 t. Even the largest individuals can exceed 10 m, yet the species drifts peacefully at the surface and shows no aggression toward humans.
- The largest recorded basking shark measured 12.27 m (40.3 ft) after being caught in a Bay of Fundy herring net in 1851. That specimen is thought to have weighed about 16 t, far above the typical adult mass. However, growth studies indicate that individuals longer than roughly 10 m are extremely rare, making this historic catch an exceptional outlier.
- A five-metre-long basking shark can push up to 500 short tons (450 t) of water through its gill rakers each hour while swimming at about 0.85 m s⁻¹. This ram-feeding action lets it filter dense zooplankton patches, especially those rich in calanoid copepods averaging 1 700 individuals per cubic metre. The shark's mouth stays open as it moves forward, extracting tiny prey from the flow.
- The basking shark's liver can constitute about a quarter of its total mass and extends the full length of its abdominal cavity, acting like a built-in ballast tank. By being so large, the organ provides the buoyancy needed for the shark's slow, surface-feeding lifestyle and stores ample energy for its long seasonal migrations across temperate oceans. Its size also helps the animal maintain neutral buoyancy while filtering huge volumes of water.
- Among all sharks, the basking shark has the smallest brain relative to its body weight. This reflects its low-energy, filter-feeding way of life.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeNorth Atlantic and North Pacific
HabitatCold and temperate open ocean
DietPlankton & fish
About the Basking Shark
In the dark, mysterious depths of the ocean, the basking shark glides effortlessly, its immense, filter-feeding maw agape as it strains the plankton-rich waters for sustenance. As it moves through the waves, its slow, deliberate pace belies a quiet majesty, its gray, streamlined form undulating through the blue expanse like a spectral apparition. Despite its endangered status, this gentle giant remains an awe-inspiring sight, a testament to the wonders that still linger in the uncharted vastness of our planet's oceans.
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