Basking Shark | Oceana
Home / Basking Shark

Marine Life Encyclopedia

Sharks & Rays

Basking Shark

Cetorhinus maximus

Distribution

Worldwide in warm to cold temperate latitudes; absent from the tropics

ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT

Coastal to open ocean (pelagic)

FEEDING HABITS

Filter feeder

TAXONOMY

Order Lamniformes (mackerel sharks and relatives), Family Cetorhinidae (basking sharks)

The basking shark is the second largest fish in the world, and like the largest fish (the whale shark) and the largest animal (the blue whale), basking sharks are filter feeders that eat tiny, planktonic prey. Reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 m) and resembling predatory sharks in appearance, the basking shark can give an intimidating impression, but they are quite harmless. They spend most of their time near the surface, swimming with their extraordinarily large mouths open, filtering out their preferred prey, but they may also make deeper, feeding dives.

Though they are quite large, there are gaps in scientists’ knowledge of their life history characteristics because they have very large individual home ranges and do not stay in any one place for longer than a couple of months. Pairs of basking sharks mate via internal fertilization, and females give birth to live young. As opposed to whale sharks, which give live birth to hundreds of small babies, basking sharks give birth to only a few, quite large babies. Based on the minimum size of individuals observed in the wild (6 feet/2 m) and a single pregnant individual caught by a fisher, shark biologists believe that basking sharks give birth to the largest babies of all fishes, just beating out the great white shark. Furthermore, scientists believe that male and female basking sharks live at different places and likely only come together to mate and that pregnant females (almost never encountered by fishers or other people) separate from other females during gestation. Nearly every individual that is caught near the surface is a female that is not pregnant.

The basking shark is one of a few species that lives in temperate latitudes, both north and south of the equator, but not between these two zones in the tropics. However, scientists believe that the individuals in these two zones are all the same species, so it is likely that at least some individuals (perhaps males) that spend part of the year in the deep sea move back and forth between the two hemispheres without ever coming to the surface. Throughout some parts of their range (e.g., both coasts of North America), basking sharks are uncommon and solitary, but during some seasons and places (e.g., the UK in the summer), they can be fairly common and form large groups.

After centuries of targeted fishing around Europe, the basking shark is considered vulnerable to extinction. While several countries have given them some or complete legal protection, legal fisheries still exist in other places, and occasionally, basking sharks are captured unintentionally in other fisheries. Shark scientists still have much work to do in order to find out more information about the life history, biology, and ecology of these giant fish.

Fun Facts About Basking Sharks

1. Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the ocean, growing to a maximum length of 45 feet (15.2 m)1 and weight of 10,000 pounds (4.5 metric tons).

2. Basking sharks have been observed leaping out of the water, which may be a way of getting rid of parasites.

3. Basking sharks have massive livers that make up 25 percent of their body weight.

4. Basking sharks filter up to 4,000,000 pounds (1814 metric tons) of water every hour while filter feeding.

5. Basking sharks often swim in pairs or large groups of up to 100 other individuals.2

6. Female basking sharks have a gestation period of at least 3 years.

7. It is estimated that basking sharks live for about 50 years.3

Resources:

1 NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center

2 Florida Museum

3 IUCN Red List

Shark Trust

Get Involved

Donate Today

SUPPORT OUR WORK TO PROTECT THE OCEANS BY GIVING TODAY

With the support of more than 1 million activists like you, we have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean.

Donate Now

TAKE ACTION NOW

Support policy change for the oceans

Decision-makers need to hear from ocean lovers like you. Make your voice heard!

Sign Now

VISIT OUR ADOPTION CENTER

SYMBOLICALLY ADOPT AN ANIMAL TODAY

Visit our online store to see all the ocean animals you can symbolically adopt, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Shop Today

DOWNLOAD OCEAN ACTIVITIES

HELP KIDS DISCOVER OUR BLUE PLANET

Our free KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) empower children to learn about and protect our oceans!

Learn More

FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Save the Oceans, Feed the World

We are restoring the world’s wild fish populations to serve as a sustainable source of protein for people.

Learn More

More CAMPAIGNs

Protect Habitat

Bycatch

Plastics

View All

CONTACT

Oceana International Headquarters
1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036 USA

General Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
info@oceana.org

Donation Inquiries
+1(202)-996-7174
wavemaker@oceana.org

Press Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
press@oceana.org

OCEANA'S EFFICIENCY

BECOME A WAVEMAKER

Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A DONATION

We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

Donate Now

QUICK LINKS: