Basking Shark

0:00:02 > 0:00:03My name's Steve Backshall.

0:00:03 > 0:00:06Self-confessed shark-obsessed.

0:00:06 > 0:00:08This is Shark Bites.

0:00:10 > 0:00:13Meet our very own gentle giant.

0:00:14 > 0:00:16The basking shark.

0:00:16 > 0:00:18A vast and mysterious shark

0:00:18 > 0:00:21that visits UK waters every spring and summer.

0:00:22 > 0:00:28Reaching lengths of over ten metres and weighing as much as two cars,

0:00:28 > 0:00:31this is the second largest fish in the world,

0:00:31 > 0:00:34after the colossal whale shark.

0:00:34 > 0:00:37But what brings such a sizable shark to the United Kingdom?

0:00:39 > 0:00:43Frequently spotted off our coastal shores, basking sharks are often

0:00:43 > 0:00:48mistaken for great whites because of their body shape and sheer size.

0:00:51 > 0:00:55But beneath the surface, they couldn't be more different.

0:00:56 > 0:01:00The basking shark might be as long as a bus,

0:01:00 > 0:01:02but it's one of the calmest sharks in our seas.

0:01:04 > 0:01:06Cruising at around three and a half kilometres per hour,

0:01:06 > 0:01:10they move slowly and gracefully through the water

0:01:10 > 0:01:13by moving their entire bodies from side to side...

0:01:16 > 0:01:20..their huge, paddle-like pectoral fins steering this ginormous

0:01:20 > 0:01:22creature through our oceans.

0:01:23 > 0:01:27But their most defining feature is, without doubt...

0:01:28 > 0:01:29..their mega mouth...

0:01:31 > 0:01:34..which they use to engulf their prey...

0:01:36 > 0:01:38..plankton.

0:01:38 > 0:01:42Microscopic plants and animals that are always floating in the water,

0:01:42 > 0:01:47but in our warmer months are here in abundance.

0:01:47 > 0:01:50And that's exactly why the basking sharks visit.

0:01:53 > 0:01:55In order to extract these tiny organisms,

0:01:55 > 0:01:59the basking shark's able to use its mega mouth to

0:01:59 > 0:02:03filter 1,000 tonnes of water every single hour.

0:02:03 > 0:02:05As the shark swims along,

0:02:05 > 0:02:06water passes into its mouth

0:02:06 > 0:02:08and then out through the gill slits

0:02:08 > 0:02:11which almost entirely encircle the head.

0:02:11 > 0:02:13But before the water exits through the gills,

0:02:13 > 0:02:16it heads through these gill rakers,

0:02:16 > 0:02:18which separate out the plankton.

0:02:18 > 0:02:19As the water's expelled,

0:02:19 > 0:02:21the shark swallows vast quantities

0:02:21 > 0:02:23of plankton down into its stomach.

0:02:29 > 0:02:32It's mind-blowing to think that these microscopic plants

0:02:32 > 0:02:37and animals are enough to satisfy their astronomic appetites.

0:02:37 > 0:02:42But the basking shark is one of our very own wonders of nature.

0:02:44 > 0:02:46The basking shark.

0:02:46 > 0:02:47A serene shark

0:02:47 > 0:02:50with a seriously surprising diet

0:02:50 > 0:02:53and a mightily mega mouth,

0:02:53 > 0:02:57make this the gentle giant of our seas.