At 10 metres long and 4,500kg, the Basking Shark is the largest fish found in British waters – and the second largest in the world. But despite its size it is completely harmless, as their diet consists of microscopic plankton. Basking Sharks are regularly sighted throughout the summer around the Northern end of the estate as they make their seasonal migration. It gets its name because of its habit of swimming slowly in surface waters.
Basking sharks have teeth but they are incredibly small and no use for feeding, instead they rely on filter feeding to catch a meal. They swim on, or just below the water surface with their huge mouths open. Water passes into the mouth, through the gills and out through large gill slits. Plankton, minute floating plants and animals are filtered from the water on feather-like projections called gill rakers which form a very efficient sieve. At a steady speed of two knots, an adult shark can filter 9,000 litres of water an hour! Every so often the mouth closes, the gills are restricted and the catch is swallowed.
Until fairly recently very little was known about Basking shark movements and activity in winter. Using modern radio tracking methods, scientists have now discovered that they move offshore to exploit better food availability, here they spend the day in deep water and surface at night to feed – the opposite of their summer behaviour.
Because of their mysterious nature it is thought that many stories and sightings of sea creatures could perhaps be basking sharks.
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