Latest news with #baskingshark
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers make stunning discoveries after tracking massive sharks' movements for full year — here is what they found
Researchers make stunning discoveries after tracking massive sharks' movements for full year — here is what they found While uncovering the mysteries of one of the ocean's largest residents in a year-long project, researchers have discovered some concerning details. What's happening? The basking shark is the second-largest fish in the world, second only to the whale shark. However, until recently, little was understood about its migratory habits. As Forbes noted, it was once unknown where these plankton-feeding giants went after they slipped beneath the surface. A team of researchers tagged and tracked several basking sharks in a wide-ranging study. Two female basking sharks showed vastly different behavior after the summer feeding season in the Arctic. One made a round trip from the Arctic to the Azores, a distance spanning thousands of miles. Another stuck around the area before traveling to the North Sea in the spring. Why are basking sharks important? The basking shark is a gentle giant that poses no threat to people. Once abundant, they were heavily fished to near extinction for their oil and meat until commercial fishing was prohibited in 1995. As the Shark Trust noted, they're currently protected under several international treaties. The research demonstrates the adaptability of basking sharks, which can tolerate vastly different ocean temperatures. While this can be encouraging for the long-term prospects of the endangered species, it is also a worrying sign about the health of the ocean. Basking sharks and other megafauna, such as gray whales, play a vital role in the ocean's ecosystem. Filter feeders control plankton populations and cycle nutrients wherever they are present. If they are removed or displaced from their normal ranges, the balance of the food web is disrupted. Warmer ocean temperatures, particularly in the Arctic, are forcing the basking sharks and whales to forage elsewhere. What's being done to protect marine megafauna? The study represents an important starting point for forming effective conservation strategies for the basking shark. Because the sharks travel over such a vast distance, it can complicate matters. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Ultimately, it's a matter of continuing to raise awareness and protecting the ocean by reducing single-use plastics and supporting clean-up efforts. The research also emphasizes the need to limit human-caused production of planet-warming pollution, which leads to higher ocean temperatures and melting polar ice caps. With rapidly changing temperatures, it's more difficult to track the behavior of creatures like the basking shark and provide effective protection for them. Positive, planet-focused lifestyle changes, such as driving gas-guzzling cars less frequently and supporting eco-friendly brands, can have significant ripple effects that can benefit even the most elusive of creatures. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CBC
10-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
RAW VIDEO: The basking shark that Don Gauthier spotted off P.E.I.'s North Shore
People out in a boat off Prince Edward Island's North Shore react to seeing a large basking shark emerging from the cold waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
CBC
08-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
10-metre member of 'mysterious' shark species spotted off P.E.I.'s North Shore
Video of the basking shark that Don Gauthier spotted off P.E.I.'s North Shore 9 hours ago Duration 0:48 Social Sharing A member of the world's second-largest species of fish was spotted off the North Shore of P.E.I. by a group of people returning from a deep-sea fishing trip this past week. Don Gauthier and his family spotted the basking shark just about a kilometre and half offshore near New London Bay and French River, at around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. "My partner was on her binoculars, just spotting things out, and she saw a bunch of birds just flying around in this one specific area and spotted some fin," Gauthier told CBC News on Monday. The boat's captain said it could be some small whales, so Gauthier pulled out his phone to zoom in. He remembers saying: "I don't think those are whales; I think that's a shark." It was almost like it was entertaining us. — Don Gauthier When the captain cut the boat's engines, the fin started coming toward the vessel. "That's a basking shark," the captain said, according to Gauthier. "I haven't seen one of those in years." Gauthier said the shark approached the boat, moving in a side-to-side pattern. "It was almost like it was entertaining us. It was very interesting because it — you know, it came up and you would see it open its mouth up. It was feeding, I would assume, and then it would go back down and come up from the other side of the boat. "It was just unbelievable. I was so amazed at the size of it.... I was just completely stunned." 'A shark trying to be a whale' Basking sharks are indeed quite large creatures, according to Boris Worm, a professor in marine conservation and biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. "They're basically a shark trying to be a whale," Worm said of Cetorhinus maximus. Gauthier estimated the basking shark his family saw was between 20- and 30-feet long, or seven to 10 metres. Worm said that's a normal-sized specimen, but the sharks can reach up to 12 metres. He added there are no accounts of a basking shark ever causing harm to humans. Over the past 30 years, Worm said, there have been only a few sightings off the Island's North Shore in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He said basking sharks aren't exceedingly rare, but the species does typically swim in deeper waters. "It's a very large fish, it moves very slowly and it's mysterious," he said. There's a lot of things we would love to know about them, but they're just really hard to track. — Boris Worm, Dalhousie University "We don't know how old they get, for example. We don't know how many there are. We don't know when their population is going up or down. "There's a lot of things we would love to know about them, but they're just really hard to track." Worm said changing climate conditions could affect where basking sharks get their food, possibly leading them to waters off the North Shore to chase where their prey are going. He noted a similar shift in feeding area has already led the endangered North Atlantic right whale to be more common in northern waters such as those in Atlantic Canada. "It's important that when you see this species to report these sightings, because every sighting helps us to understand the distribution a little bit better," he said of the basking shark. A new perspective As for Gauthier, he said he had mixed feelings about the July 3 encounter. "The initial feeling was definitely a little bit of concern, but it passed really quickly. When the captain explained to us what we were witnessing, it just turned immediately to just complete amazement," he said. "I've never witnessed anything like this. This was spectacular." He said being so close to the basking shark gave him some new perspective. "You realize how small you are in an environment like that, on the water, on the ocean, and you see this beautiful creature. I just hope people can appreciate the magnitude of it and just be more responsible with how we treat our climate," he said.
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Science
- Forbes
What Basking Sharks Tell Us About The Climate Crisis
Understanding basking shark behavior over a full year reveals how they adapt to environmental shifts ... More and why that matters for ocean conservation. Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are the second largest fish in the world, yet we still know surprisingly little about where they go and what they do once they disappear from surface waters. A new study fills some of those gaps by thanks to some tagged basking sharks who were blinged out with high-tech gear off the coast of northern Norway to allow scientists to track their movements across an entire year. These animals, which feed on microscopic zooplankton, are usually spotted cruising near the surface in summer months, often around rich feeding grounds. But once the feeding season is over, their next moves have remained something of a mystery, especially in high-latitude regions like the Arctic where climate change is already transforming the ocean landscape. By using pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs), researchers were able to follow these sharks well beyond the usual study windows, gathering high-resolution data that revealed just how dynamic and adaptable these animals can be. Two female basking sharks have provided particularly detailed migration tracks. One left the chilly Arctic waters and traveled all the way to the beautiful Azores in the central Atlantic before returning north, completing a round-trip migration spanning thousands of miles. The other female did something quite different, staying north of the Arctic Circle through much of the winter and only moving to the North Sea in the spring. These two vastly differing paths illustrate just how variable shark behavior can be, even within the same species and tagging location. Both individuals, however, showed an impressive ability to tolerate a wide range of ocean temperatures. One was recorded diving into sub-zero waters (a first for this species!), stretching the known limits of this shark's thermal limits and shows how they might cope with rapid environmental shifts. By collecting data every five seconds, the recovered tags also offered an unprecedented view into how these sharks use their environment. In deeper oceanic waters, they followed a pattern known as diel vertical migration — rising toward the surface at night and sinking during the day — likely to track zooplankton that do the same to avoid predators. But their behavior over continental shelf regions was more erratic and shaped by the seafloor, local water layers, and prey availability. Zooplankton are influenced by light levels, temperature gradients, and ocean features like fronts and currents, and the sharks seemed to align their movements with these prey-driven cues. In some areas, they dove deep during the day to follow food. In others, they tracked bioluminescent events, showing how finely tuned their behavior is to their surroundings. This kind of behavioral flexibility (or "plasticity") may be what helps basking sharks survive in such a fast-changing world. Basking sharks are active navigators, capable of tracking prey through complex environments and ... More adjusting to rapidly shifting conditions. But that doesn't mean they're safe. Unlike many large marine species that are restricted to certain habitats or temperature bands, basking sharks seem to be able to tolerate a broad thermal range and switch up their foraging strategies depending on where they are. That makes them more resilient in theory… but also harder to protect. As global climate change alters ocean temperatures, currents, and food web dynamics, these sharks will likely need to keep adjusting their movements. But unless we understand what drives those movements now, it will be hard to predict where they'll go in the future or what new risks they might face along the way. Like other large marine megafauna, basking sharks play an important role in shaping ocean ecosystems. Although they do not eat other large animals like top predators do, they are still considered keystone species because of how they influence plankton populations and energy flow in the ocean. These gentle giants also share something else with animals like whales and sea turtles: wide-ranging movements that take them across international boundaries and into areas increasingly affected by human activity. Fishing, shipping, pollution, and warming seas all threaten their survival. And because these sharks are endangered, understanding when and where they're most at risk is a conservation priority. Their adaptability gives them a fighting chance, but conservation measures still need to account for the full range of habitats they use, including those in remote or deep-water regions.
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Falmouth Basket Shark aims to raise sea pollution awareness
A creative project aiming to raise awareness of marine pollution is set to see a 20ft (6.1m) model of a basking shark - made from sustainable materials - taken to a Cornish Basket Shark has been made out of items including willow, pallet wood and bamboo in a project led by Falmouth University lecturer Duncan model has been on display in Falmouth's National Maritime Museum during the half-term break and is set to travel down to Gyllyngvase Beach on Sunday to mark World Ocean Cameron said the plan was for the shark to stay at the beach during summer so people could fill it up with plastic found on the sand, before it is taken back to the university in the autumn. He added the year-long project had been set up to highlight the dangers of plastic and marine pollution with a "carbon-neutral but high-impact" project involved other groups including Plastic Free Mylor, the National Maritime Museum, the Shark Trust and Surfers Against Sewage, who worked alongside Mr Cameron and students to develop the shark. He added he was delighted with how the project had gone and been able to let "voices be heard" on an important subject."It's a creative project, but underneath it all there's this larger conversation about plastic in the sea," Mr Cameron said."With all projects, you have an idea and plan and hope to bring people along with you and there have been hundreds of voices in making this shark."
