|
|
|
 Sent
to you
by e-mail
|
|
Simply
enter your details and hit the send button
more
info |
|
Click Here
Links
Advertise
Terms of Use
Contributors
About Us
Contact Us
|
 |
Go back
| Bookmark
| Print Page 
| E-Mail Us 
Photo: Maura Mitchell |
|
UK
Safari Tip:
Take a good pair of binoculars to the coast on a sunny June day and you may see
the familiar double fins of a basking shark on the surface of the water.
|
|
Latin name: Cetorhinus maximus
Size: Basking sharks can be up to 10m long and weigh up to 7,000kgs.
Distribution: Mainly seen around the coast of Devon, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Ireland and the west coast of Scotland.
Months seen: April to June
Food: Plankton
Habitat: The basking shark is usually seen in warm coastal, and cool temperate waters.
During the winter they move to deeper water.
Special features: Basking sharks are commonly seen very near the surface of the water along the coast. Their appearance during fine weather conditions has earned them the nickname of "sun fish".
They feed by filtering sea water. They cruise through the sea with their giant
mouths wide open. As the water goes in, any food, such as plankton, is collected on
filaments in the gills, before the water passes out again through the gill slits on each side of the head.
The gills also extract oxygen from the water allowing the basking shark to
breathe.
Basking sharks are the largest UK fish, and the second largest fish in the
world. The only fish bigger is the Whale shark, another filter feeder.
UK Safari Marine Wildlife Section
|
|
|
