Why is this animal unusual?
It feeds by simply swimming forward with its mouth open. Water flows in, passes over comb-like filters in the gills and leaves the plankton behind. It’s said to filter about 2,200 tons (2,000 tonnes) of water an hour.
Why does it look like that?
Enormous gill slits that almost circle the head, a pointed snout and a mouth like an open cave. It does have teeth – hundreds of them – but they’re tiny and useless.
Strangest biological feature
Its liver. It’s full of oil, makes up about a quarter of the shark’s weight and keeps it floating without effort.
Why is it strange?
Despite weighing as much as an elephant, it can leap completely out of the water. Nobody is quite sure why.
Interesting behavioral facts
It cruises slowly at the surface as if sunbathing – hence “basking”. Rotting basking sharks washed ashore have been mistaken for sea monsters more than once.
Records held
The second-largest fish in the world, after the whale shark.
