Aside from fishing bans, other conservation efforts have helped the species. Basking sharks are now one of the most highly protected sharks in European waters. Oddly, a basking shark is responsible for the U. In , a breaching basking shark unintentionally capsized a boat, causing the deaths of three people onboard.
All rights reserved. Common Name: Basking sharks. Scientific Name: Cetorhinus maximus. Type: Fish. Diet: Omnivore. Group Name: School, shoal, shiver. Average Life Span: Around 50 years. Size: Up to 33 feet long. Weight: Up to 4. Least Concern Extinct.
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If you see any basking sharks, you can help by reporting your sightings to the Shark Trust's Basking Shark Project. The largest, in the Sea of the Hebrides, is the world's first protected area for basking sharks. The basking shark can open its mouth up to a metre wide. It is the world's second largest fish, surpassed only by the whale shark. Every year, more people are reading our articles to learn about the challenges facing the natural world.
Our future depends on nature, but we are not doing enough to protect our life support system. British wildlife is under threat. The animals and plants that make our island unique are facing a fight to survive. Hedgehog habitats are disappearing, porpoises are choking on plastic and ancient woodlands are being paved over. But if we don't look after nature, nature can't look after us.
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You must be over the age of Privacy notice. Males reach maturity at 12—16 years. And females at 20 years around 4. Not directly as they are gentle plankton feeders, only if a small boat was to perhaps get in the path of a large shark feeding at the surface, which is why it is important when at sea to always abide by the recommendations of the WiSE scheme and only to go wildlife watching with boats accredited to this scheme. In Scotland, the Nature Conservation Scotland Act mentioned above required production of a Marine Wildlife Watching Code which should be abided by for wildlife encounters in Scotland.
Basking sharks are at risk globally because of the value of their fins, for which they are directly targeted. They are also at risk of propeller damage from collision with boats and of entanglement in fishing gear, particularly the lines for static gear such as pots and creels for catching lobsters and crabs. These Acts make it illegal to intentionally kill, injure or harass basking sharks in British waters.
Any person committing such an offence could face up to 6 months in prison and a large fine. MCS teamed up with the Scottish Wildlife Trust to show public support for this proposed MPA and the other three which was supported by over 3, public responses.
This is explained by the high zooplankton density the primary food of the basking shark that exists in these waters during late spring and early summer. Sightings of groups of individuals of the same size and sex suggest that there is pronounced sexual and population segregation in migrating basking sharks.
Distinctive Features The basking shark is one of the most recognizable of all sharks. Its massiveness, extended gill slits that nearly encircle the head and lunate caudal fin together help distinguish it from all other species. It possesses a conical snout and numerous large gill rakers modified for filter feeding. Its enormous mouth extends past the small eyes and contains many small, hooked teeth.
The liver is high in squalene, a low-density hydrocarbon that helps give the shark near-neutral buoyancy. Coloration Dorsal surface is typically grayish-brown but can range from dark gray to almost black. Ventral surface may be of the same color, slightly paler or nearly white. Dentition The basking shark possesses hundreds of tiny teeth. Those in the center of the jaws are low and triangular while those on the sides are more conical and slightly recurved.
There is typically a wide space on the center of the upper jaw with only scattered teeth. Size, Age, and Growth Second only to the whale shark Rhincodon typus in size, the basking shark can reach lengths up to 40 feet 12 m. The average adult length is feet 6. Size at birth is believed to be between feet 1.
The basking shark is an extremely slow-growing species and may grow to feet m before becoming mature. Food Habits Along with the whale shark and the megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios , the basking shark is one of three species of large, filter-feeding sharks. However, the basking shark is the only one that relies solely on the passive flow of water through its pharynx by swimming. The basking shark is usually seen swimming with its mouth wide open, taking in a continuous flow of water.
The whale shark and megamouth shark assist the process by suction or actively pumping water into their pharynxes. Food is strained from the water by gill rakers located in the gill slits. These sharks feed along areas that contain high densities of large zooplankton i. There is a theory that the basking shark feeds on the surface when plankton is abundant, then sheds its gill rakers and hibernates in deeper water during winter.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the basking shark turns to benthic near bottom feeding when it loses its gill rakers.
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