Species › Giants and filter feeders
Basking shark
Cetorhinus maximus
Specimen No. 02
Cetorhinus maximus
Giants and filter feeders
- The basking shark is the second-largest living fish, after the whale shark. Wikipedia
- It is one of only three plankton-eating sharks, along with the whale shark and the megamouth. Wikipedia
- An average adult basking shark is around 7.9 m (26 ft) long. Wikipedia
- It strains plankton from the water with dark, bristle-like gill rakers. Wikipedia
- Basking sharks feed slowly, at about 2 knots (3.7 km/h), and don’t swim away from approaching boats. Wikipedia
- In its 2019 assessment (updated in 2021), the IUCN listed the basking shark as Endangered. Wikipedia
Basking sharks and the Isle of Man
Between May and August, basking sharks feed on plankton blooms around the Isle of Man. Manx Wildlife Trust They can turn up all round the island, but the stretch from Peel down to the Calf of Man is where they are most reliably found. Manx Wildlife Trust
More on the Isle of Man page.