Basking Sharks' Hiding Places Found

Basking Sharks' Hiding Places Found
May 7, 2009 Emily Sohn, Discovery News

For ages, scientists have wondered where basking sharks go in the wintertime. Now, they have an answer -- and it's full of surprises.

In the western Atlantic, the world's second largest fish swims all the way from New England to the Bahamas and across the equator to South America, a new study finds. Scientists have long thought that basking sharks spent all of their time in cooler waters.

"This is equivalent to finding polar bears in Kansas," said lead researcher Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries in Martha's Vineyard. "This was a mind-blowing discovery for us."

"We've opened up a whole new world of implications into the life history and ecology of these fish and how they live," Skomal said. "To be able to do that in the 21st century for an animal that has been studied for eons is what fascinates me."

The new findings may help people better protect basking sharks, said Robert Kenney, a biological oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island in Narragansett. The species is currently listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"If all of a sudden, you are finding that a population is spending part of its life somewhere that you didn't consider," Kenney said, "Then you have to expand what you think about when you are trying to manage them."

Mini-sub to probe behaviour of basking sharks

Basking sharks are one of the three shark species protected under CITES. They are the second-largest shark alive (after the whale shark) yet are gentle filter-feeders. Only 8,200 of them left!
We need to protect these unique sharks before they disappear!

The ocean is one big watery plane. Exploitive fishing practices in any region can affect populations miles away. Stop eating shark fin!

Mini-sub to probe behaviour of basking sharks
15 January 2009, By LOTTIE RAY, Isle of Man Today

THE Isle of Man is to host a conference on basking sharks this summer following four years of ground-breaking research.

The Island's basking shark population has received worldwide attention since a shark tagged in Manx waters crossed the Atlantic in 2007. It was previously believed basking sharks on this side of the Atlantic were a completely different group to those off the Americas.

Manx Basking Shark Watch (MBSW) plans to join the Shark Alliance, a group of scientists calling for worldwide protection for all shark species.

'Every year tens of millions of different sharks are killed for their fins, so people can eat shark fin soup,' said Jackie.'This is a very cruel practice. The fins are cut off and the shark is thrown back into the sea to die a slow and painful death.'

It is estimated there are now only about 8,200 basking sharks left.

'We are close to losing them,' said Jackie. 'This practice must be stopped and our tagging work lends power to the scientific argument against it.'

Our evidence that these sharks cross the Atlantic has put a whole new light on the urgent need for worldwide conservation measures to be taken.'

Basking in shame

An article from David Suzuki about the endangered basking shark. He is so cool, like real like Mr Miyagi!

Basking in shame
By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola, Canoe.ca, December 18, 2008

The basking shark is huge – often bigger than a bus. As fish go, it’s second in size only to the whale shark. It has been roaming the world’s oceans for at least 30 million years. Mariners throughout history have mistaken it for a mythical sea serpent or the legendary cadborosaurus. Despite its massive size, it feeds mostly on tiny zooplankton.

Only half a century ago, people taking a ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island may have spotted half a dozen lazily swimming by. But now, reported sightings are down to fewer than one a year off the B.C. coast. All indications are that this magnificent animal is on the edge of extinction. It makes my blood boil!

Over the past two centuries, people have been killing them for sport, for food, for the oil from their half-tonne livers, and to get them out of the way of commercial fishing operations. Many were also killed accidentally by fishing gear.

These animals need to be protected under strong species at risk legislation. When one species goes extinct, the repercussions cascade throughout the environment. We can’t afford any more losses.

Expert view: Sharks are just not meant to be hunted

Here's a very good and concise explanation on why sharks shouldn't be commercially exploited.

by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
The Guardian, Tuesday November 11 2008

In some coastal parts of the world shark is a traditional part of the local fish diet. But pursuing them with modern fishing vessels can only lead to their rapid demise. Despite their astonishing success as a species - they've been around unchanged since the time of dinosaurs - they have a flaw in their otherwise perfect evolutionary design. Unlike most other fish, which produce vast numbers of eggs, and swim in huge shoals, sharks are just not meant to be hunted.

Rather, their place in nature is at the top of the food chain. That's why they are slow growers, who lay small numbers of eggs - or in some cases, such as the spurdog, give birth to live young. Start killing the adult breeding stock and numbers will soon crash to a tipping point. That's why extinction is a very real risk of commercially targeting certain species of shark.

Also see the Guardian's Sharks under threat gallery, and accompanying article Sharks and rays off UK shores critically endangered and facing extinction.

Basking shark feeding on plankton in the Atlantic Ocean. Basking sharks have small teeth and use their gills to collect food. Basking sharks are the world's second largest fish and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.