Basking Shark

Also known as Bone Shark, Elephant Shark, Sunfish, Sailfish

Basking sharks cruise slowly through temperate coastal waters with massive jaws agape, filtering hundreds of thousands of liters of seawater per hour through bristling gill rakers. These gentle giants undertake deep, long-distance seasonal migrations into offshore mesopelagic depths during the winter when surface plankton levels plummet. Though largely solitary while feeding, they occasionally gather in synchronized circular formations called toruses, likely for courtship.