basking sharks
Plankton-filtering ocean fish
Basking sharks are the second-largest living fish, after whale sharks.
Despite their enormous size—up to forty feet—they feed only on plankton, swimming slowly with mouths agape to filter tiny organisms from the water.
The name comes from their habit of feeding near the surface, appearing to bask in the sun: We spotted a basking shark off the coast of Cornwall.
- gill slitsRespiratory openings in fish
- planktonsDrifting aquatic organisms
- plankton bloomsMass growth of microorganisms
- oceansVast saltwater bodies
- filter feedersOrganisms sieving food from water
dorsal fin · cartilaginous · waters · fish · endangered species · oceanography · gentle giant · ichthyology · conservation biology · slow swimmer · sea surface · marine predators · benthic species · plankton · plankton · plankton
- filter feedersfilter feeder, filter feeders, filter feeding, baleen whale, manta ray
- shark typescatsharks
- UK Oceanographyoceanography, marine biology, marine ecosystems, North Sea, Irish Sea
- coastal seasNorth Sea, Baltic Sea, English Channel, Bay of Biscay, Bay of Fundy
basking sharksgreat white sharks
Large predatory ocean fish
tiger sharks · bull sharks · mako sharks · man-eaters · hammerhead sharks
basking sharkskrill
Small marine crustaceans
copepods · zooplankton · anchovies · menhaden · barnacles
basking sharksmako sharks
Speediest shark species
blue sharks · thresher sharks · great white sharks · sailfish · swordfish
bask, basking, basked, basks, shark, sharks, sharking, sharked