Basking shark

The basking shark is a huge fish.

It is the second largest fish in the sea. It has a very big mouth.

This shark eats tiny bits of food. It swims with its mouth open. The water goes through its gills.

This helps it catch food.

Its skin is brown or grey. It can have spots on it. The inside of its mouth is white.

These sharks are very slow. They are not mean to people. They are safe to be near.

They swim in many oceans. They move to find more food. It is a very big animal.

The basking shark is a very large fish.

It is the second-largest fish in the ocean. Only the whale shark is bigger. These sharks are often grey or brown. Their skin may have spots. The inside of their mouth is white.

Basking sharks eat tiny sea life called plankton. They use a way called filter feeding to eat. They swim forward with their mouths wide open. This pushes water through their gills. Inside the gills are gill rakers. These are dark, bristle-like parts. They catch the tiny food as water flows by.

A shark can filter a lot of water every hour.

These sharks are slow movers. They are not mean to humans. They are safe to be near. Most basking sharks like to live alone. In the summer, they may swim in groups. They move across the ocean to find food. They follow the plankton to stay full. Some sharks move to very deep water in the winter. This helps them find food all year long.

The basking shark is a truly huge animal. It is the second-largest fish in the world. Only the whale shark is bigger than it.

These sharks can grow to be 8 meters long. Some very large individuals might even reach 10 meters. They usually have greyish-brown skin with mottled spots. The inside of their mouth is bright white.

They are known by many names, like the elephant shark. They are also called the bone shark or the sailfish.

This shark eats by using a way called filter feeding. It is a slow-moving animal. It swims forward with its mouth wide open.

This movement pushes water through its gills. Inside the gills are dark, bristle-like parts called gill rakers. These rakers catch tiny living things called plankton. The shark prefers to eat small crustaceans called copepods. It can filter up to 2,000 cubic meters of water every hour. This happens as it swims at a speed of about 2 knots.

People have studied these sharks for a long time. A scientist named Johan Ernst Gunnerus first described the species. He found a specimen in Norway. The name Cetorhinus comes from Greek words. One part means "marine monster" and the other means "shark." The name maximus means "greatest" in Latin. Many other scientists gave it different names in the past. These included names like Squalus elephas and Selachus pennantii.

Basking sharks live in many different places. They stay in temperate oceans around the world. They like water that is between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius. However, they can swim through much warmer water at the equator. They move with the seasons to find food. Some sharks move to very deep water in the winter. They might go down to depths of 1,000 meters. Satellite tags show they can travel thousands of kilometers.

Even though they look scary, they are harmless to humans. They are not aggressive predators like the great white shark. Great whites hunt large animals, but basking sharks just filter water. Basking sharks have very small teeth. They have about 100 tiny teeth in each row. They also have a very small brain for their size. Their large liver helps them stay afloat in the water. This liver can be 25 percent of their total body weight.

The basking shark, scientifically known as Cetorhinus maximus, is a massive marine animal. It holds the title of the second-largest living shark and fish in the world. Only the whale shark is larger than this species.

These sharks are recognized as one of only three shark species that eat plankton. This group also includes the whale shark and the megamouth shark. Basking sharks are cosmopolitan migratory animals. This means they are found in temperate oceans across the entire globe. They play a significant role in the marine ecosystem as large-scale filter feeders.

To feed, the basking shark uses a process called ram feeding. It swims forward with its mouth wide open to push water through its system.

The shark has a cavernous jaw that can reach up to 1.5 meters in width. As water enters the mouth, it passes over the gills. The shark possesses highly developed gill rakers, which are dark, bristle-like structures. These rakers act like a sieve to catch tiny organisms. The shark specifically targets zooplankton, such as small crustaceans called calanoid copepods. By swimming at a speed of about 2 knots, a single shark can filter up to 2,000 cubic meters of water every hour.

The anatomy of the basking shark is specialized for its lifestyle. Its skin is often greyish-brown and mottled, while the inside of its mouth is white.

The shark has a conical snout and a crescent-shaped caudal fin. This fin has a strong lateral keel to assist movement. Interestingly, the basking shark has the smallest weight-for-weight brain size of any shark. This is thought to reflect its relatively passive way of life. Its large liver is another vital organ. The liver can account for 25% of the shark's total body weight. This helps the animal with buoyancy regulation and long-term energy storage.

Scientists have studied these sharks for centuries. Johan Ernst Gunnerus first described the species from a specimen found in Norway. The genus name Cetorhinus likely comes from the Greek words ketos, meaning "marine monster" or "whale," and rhine, meaning "shark." The species name, maximus, is Latin for "greatest." Throughout history, many different names were used by various zoologists. These included names like Squalus elephas and Selachus pennantii. The oldest known relatives of this family were members of the extinct genus Keasius, which lived during the Eocene epoch.

Basking sharks are known for their incredible size and movement. They typically reach lengths of 7 to 8 meters. However, large individuals have been recorded at much greater sizes. Some historical reports suggest sharks as long as 12.5 or 14 meters, though these lack strong evidence. These sharks are highly migratory and follow plankton concentrations. Satellite tracking has shown they move thousands of kilometers during the seasons. In the winter, they often move to deeper waters, sometimes reaching depths of 1,000 meters. Some individuals have even been tracked crossing the equator to reach Brazil.

Socially, basking sharks are usually solitary animals. However, they can gather in large groups during the summer months. They often congregate where zooplankton is most dense. They can form small shoals of three or four, or much larger groups of up to 100 individuals. In some areas, such as the northeastern United States, they have been spotted in groups of up to 1,400. These summer gatherings are thought to involve courtship behaviors. They may even swim nose-to-tail in circles during these times.

Despite their intimidating size, basking sharks are not aggressive toward humans. They are very different from the great white shark, which is an active predator. While a great white has large, dagger-like teeth, the basking shark has many rows of tiny, curved teeth. These teeth are only about 2 millimeters long and are not used for hunting large prey. Basking sharks have few natural predators, though killer whales and white sharks have been known to interact with them. Humans have historically used them for food, oil, and fins, but overexploitation has led to the need for their protection.