Fact of the Day: Basking Shark - Oceana USA
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July 26, 2010

Fact of the Day: Basking Shark

Only one more week until Shark Week!  

So in preparation for the upcoming shark fest, today we will talk about the basking shark. Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world.  (Pop quiz – what is the largest fish in the world? I’ll give you a hint: I have already written a FOTD about this kind of shark.) 

These sharks are filter feeders so they just swim around with their mouths open, collecting plankton and other tiny creatures while filtering out hundreds of thousands of gallons of water every hour. The water is filtered through the shark’s characteristically large gill slits on the sides of its head. 

Check out Oceana.org/Explore for more shark info and see you tomorrow for another FOTD!