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Basking Shark

Basking sharks might be enormous, but they’re gentle giants! Although they can grow to be nearly 12.2 meters (40 feet), they are harmless to humans and feed only on tiny plankton.

 

Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world following the better-known whale shark. They spend most of their time near the surface, slowly swimming with their extraordinarily large mouths open to filter feed on plankton, but they have also been observed making deeper dives to feed. These sharks get their name from their laid-back behavior, often seen “basking” at the surface on sunny days. 

Basking sharks can be found primarily throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In cooler waters, they spend most of their time at the surface, but they dive deeper in warmer, tropical waters. Basking sharks undertake huge migrations, covering distances of thousands of miles. They have been sighted traveling solo, in small groups, and sometimes rarely even in huge schools! 

 

 

Although basking sharks are thought to live up to 50 years, they grow and reproduce slowly, making them vulnerable to human-caused threats. Historically, these sharks were heavily targeted in fisheries. While those practices have now been banned by many countries, populations have not yet fully recovered. They continue to face modern threats such as being accidentally caught as bycatch and boat strikes — which occur due to their habit of swimming slowly at the surface. Today, basking sharks are listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List.

 

 

Stopping overfishing and destructive fishing practices is essential to helping ocean species recover from intense fishing pressure. Oceana is working around the world to reduce accidental fishing gear entanglements for wildlife and to increase the number of fisheries with management plans and catch limits in order to rebuild ocean abundance. 

 

 

 

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