A fisherman took a sensational photo off the coast of the Croatian village of Medveja: he was able to film a basking shark swimming about 200 meters offshore, just below the surface of the water.
The recording was published on the Facebook page of the University of Natural Sciences in Pula. The researchers estimate the size of the basking shark at an impressive eight meters.
The university’s message on Facebook:
The university explains that the fact that the animals like to stay close to the water surface has earned them the English name ‘basking shark’. ‘Cherish’ means something like ‘sunbathe’. “And the sharks behave as if they are visibly enjoying the sun,” the Facebook post reads.
Second largest fish species in the world
The basking shark looks very impressive, but is harmless. It filters the water for plankton. They like to swim through surface water in search of food. It is the largest fish species after the whale shark and can grow up to twelve meters in length. They live in cool, temperate to tropical waters – often, but not exclusively, near the coast.
Early last year, a basking shark was filmed off the coast of Pula. Photos of a specimen were also taken in Trieste. Italian researchers welcomed the sensational discovery as it “gave hope for species increasingly threatened in the Mediterranean.”
Source: Krone
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