| To see more photographs of the Basking
Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) click here.
Basking Shark
(Cetorhinus maximus)
All images and text on this
page are copyright protected: © 2010 Kelvin Aitken. Photo
© 2002 Dave Warth.
All rights reserved. Students may use this information for
personal research only. Not for commercial use.
The world's second largest fish is the Basking
Shark (Cetorhinus
maximus) growing to 10 metres. This harmless giant
is greyish brown in colour with a long snout, tiny eyes and
gill slits that almost surround the head. The tail has a large
upper lobe which, along with the dorsal fin, is often seen
protruding above the surface.
Basking Sharks are seen during summer across the southern
coast of Australia but sightings are rare, being more common
in the Northern Hemisphere in the Atlantic off England, Scotland
and associated waters.
A huge oily liver — about 25 per cent of
their body weight — helps them to maintain neutral buoyancy.
Their most notable feature is an enormous mouth which is opened
to allow plankton to be strained out through their huge arched
gill slits. It is assumed that the gill rakers, frilled filters
attached to the gill arches, are lost during the winter when
they apparently hibernate in deep water. Despite being an
important commercial species in the past, we know virtually
nothing about its life or breeding habits. This shark has
been hunted close to extinction and is protected in parts
of it's range. There are now tourist shark watching trips
run in a similar manner to whale watch trips.
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