How does a basking shark survive?
The basking shark feeds on plankton, using a special technique to feed known as “passive feeding.” This means that the basking shark can simply swim through the water with its mouth open, and the plankton will become trapped in the gill rakers as the water passes over the gills.
What did basking sharks evolve from?
This was the beginning of filter feeding sharks. The order Orectolobiformes gave rise to the Lamniformes, which were the Mackerel Sharks. From the Lamniformes, two distinct families descended, the Basking (Cetorhinus maximus) and Megamouth (Megachasma pelagios) sharks (Martin2003).
Why was the basking shark a common species?
Basking sharks were a common species about 100 years ago. They are passive and not afraid of boats or people, so they were easy targets for fishing vessels. People used the livers of basking sharks for oil, their skin for leather, and their flesh for food.
How are sharks able to adapt to their environment?
The shark’s incredibly tough skin provides high defense from the attacks of other predators and the color of their skin gives them camouflage abilities underwater. The adaptive features of sharks have enabled the species to survive in waters all over the world for more than 400 million years.
Where do basking sharks go in the summer?
These sharks migrate based on food availability, as they travel to cool coastal areas during the summer and return to warm water seas during the winter (Online sfsu). This is because during the summer zooplankton and other species populate at a faster rate along coastlines, which makes it easier for basking sharks to find food along coasts.
How does a basking shark filter the water?
Basking sharks love zooplankton. As a filter feeder, the species follows the dense populations of plankton near the surface. When they feed, they open their massive mouths and slowly glide through the clouds of plankton as the gill rakers remove the tiny plankton from the water. A basking shark can filter millions of pounds of water per hour.
Basking sharks were a common species about 100 years ago. They are passive and not afraid of boats or people, so they were easy targets for fishing vessels. People used the livers of basking sharks for oil, their skin for leather, and their flesh for food.
The shark’s incredibly tough skin provides high defense from the attacks of other predators and the color of their skin gives them camouflage abilities underwater. The adaptive features of sharks have enabled the species to survive in waters all over the world for more than 400 million years.
These sharks migrate based on food availability, as they travel to cool coastal areas during the summer and return to warm water seas during the winter (Online sfsu). This is because during the summer zooplankton and other species populate at a faster rate along coastlines, which makes it easier for basking sharks to find food along coasts.
Basking sharks love zooplankton. As a filter feeder, the species follows the dense populations of plankton near the surface. When they feed, they open their massive mouths and slowly glide through the clouds of plankton as the gill rakers remove the tiny plankton from the water. A basking shark can filter millions of pounds of water per hour.
