Harmless Basking Sharks (England’s Gentle Giants)

Art by Breah

It’s hard not to be amazed by the basking shark, a true gentle giant swimming along England’s coast. These massive creatures can grow up to 30 feet long, making them the second largest fish in the world. Even with their size, they’re completely harmless, spending their days gliding just below the surface and feeding on nothing but tiny plankton.

Whale sharks are the size of a bus. With unique starry patterns, and pale spots and stripes, on grey-blue bodies. Sightings around Cornwall, Devon, and Scotland often leave people in awe but also a bit unsure. There’s no need for worry—basking sharks pose no threat to humans.

Melanie Mikecz

Second only to whale sharks (above) in size, basking sharks are named after their habit of swimmingly slowly near the surface, like they are basking in the sun

Gentle Giants of the Sea

Basking sharks are a familiar sight along England’s coastline, but there’s still a sense of mystery about these impressive fish. Their immense size catches your eye first, but it’s their gentle nature that leaves the strongest impression. Spend a little time learning about these creatures, and you’ll see there’s nothing to fear—just a whole lot to admire.

Size and Appearance

Basking sharks look like something out of a sailor’s tall tale. They weigh several tons, putting them right behind the whale shark as the world’s second largest fish. Their wide, gaping mouths make them easy to spot, especially when they feed near the surface.

A few stand-out features to help you recognize a basking shark in the wild:

Enormous Mouth: Opens up to three feet wide while feeding.
Pointed Snout: Seen just ahead of their large dark eye.
Gill Slits: Five long gill slits that almost wrap around the head.
Gray-Brown Skin: Often marked with pale patches and sometimes rough to the touch.

Filter Feeding: The Plankton Patrol

When it comes to diet, basking sharks are as harmless as they come. They’re filter feeders, swimming with mouths wide open to strain plankton and tiny sea creatures from the water. Inside their mouth, hundreds of bristle-like gill rakers trap food as water passes through.

Here’s how their mealtime works:

The shark swims near the surface with mouth open.
Water filled with plankton flows in.
Gill rakers catch the plankton.
The shark closes its mouth, swallows, then repeats the process.

This style of feeding means they pose no risk to humans or other larger animals. You could be right beside one in the water and be nothing more than another piece of scenery as it goes by!

Gentle, Harmless Nature

The basking shark’s massive mouth might seem scary at first glance, but there’s no bite to worry about. They have tiny teeth but don’t use them at all for feeding—or for anything, really. These sharks show no interest in people, boats, or anything bigger than a plankton cloud.

If you see a basking shark in England, you can relax and enjoy the view knowing they are one of the calmest creatures in the sea. Many swimmers and kayakers can tell stories of meeting these giants up close, always with a happy ending.

However, as with all marine creatures, stay well away from them, and give them a wide berth, for their safety. Also keep boats away (read our post for sustainable wildlife-friendly sailors).

Typical Behaviour: Slow Swimmers at the Surface

Basking sharks are easy-going by nature. You’ll often spot them moving just below the surface, sometimes with their dorsal fin breaking the water. This slow cruising has a purpose—they’re following plankton blooms.

Some common basking shark habits include:

Surface swimming: Following the warmer, plankton-rich top layer.
Basking: Drifting slowly, mouths wide open, not in a hurry.
Occasional breaching: Sometimes leaping partway out of the water, possibly to shed parasites.

Role in the Ocean

Basking sharks aren’t just a wonder to watch—they help keep the ocean in balance. As filter feeders, they keep plankton populations in check, playing a part in a healthy marine ecosystem.

Think of them as ocean gardeners, trimming back the plankton and helping nutrients move through the water. Their presence signals a healthy food web at work, which benefits everything from tiny fish to seabirds and seals.

Migration and Seasonal Visits to England

Basking sharks are long-distance travellers. Their presence around England is seasonal, typically peaking from late spring to early autumn. Warmer water and rich plankton draw them close to shore during these months.

In spring and summer, basking sharks may be found in southwest England (Cornwall and Devon) and western Scotland, due to plankton blooms and warmer waters.
In autumn and winter, basking sharks move offshore or south, looking for colder waters.

Tips for Respectful and Safe Encounters

Having a basking shark encounter is unforgettable, but it comes with responsibility. Basking sharks are protected in UK waters, and their safety comes first. Keep these tips in mind:

Give Them Space: Stay at least 4 meters from the shark (at least 100 feet away from a boat). This advice is for all marine creatures – advice for North Atlantic and killer whales is to stay even further away).
If a basking shark approaches your boat, switch your engine to neutral, to avoid propellor injuries. And slow your speed to under 5 knots.
Avoid Sudden Moves: If you’re on a boat or kayak, keep movement gentle and slow.
No Swimming Toward Sharks: Never chase or block its path.
Never Use Jet Skis. These cause awful injuries to marine wildlife, and can also drive through pods of marine creatures and birds, separating parents from their young.
Keep Noise Low: Avoid splashing or shouting, as this may cause the sharks to dive away
If you dive or snorkel, keep away from basking sharks to avoid bubbles or disturbance, enter water gently, to minimise splashing. If you see one, position yourself alongside, so not to restrict movement.
Do not use flash photography near basking sharks, nor jet skis (these harm all creatures, and can separate mothers from their parents, if you drive through).

WiSE is the national scheme that lists wildlife-friendly boat operators, and people who own boats (private or professional use) can take a five-hour course (refreshed every 3 years) to be a wildlife-friendly sailor. You can then use their logo on your literature.

Top Hotspots for Basking Shark Sightings

Basking sharks don’t show up everywhere at once. They follow the food, so their favourite places are rich in plankton, calm seas, and clear waters. Here are some top locations in England where sightings are most common:

Cornwall: Known as the best area in England for basking shark encounters. The waters around Land’s End, Penzance, and the Lizard Peninsula are especially productive from late spring into mid-summer.
Devon: Visit the south and north coasts, including the waters off Salcombe and Ilfracombe. You can sometimes spot their dorsal fins gliding close to shore.
Isles of Scilly: This cluster of islands southwest of Cornwall attracts basking sharks thanks to clear blue water and abundant summer plankton.
Plymouth and Torbay: Less crowded, with good chances during late May and June.

Compared to places like the Azores or Newfoundland, England’s waters might see fewer sharks at a time, but the odds of watching one up close are far better here. English coastal waters offer the rare scene of basking sharks swimming almost within arm’s reach of shore.

Best Time of Year to Spot Basking Sharks

Timing is everything when searching for basking sharks. They visit England’s coast once the water warms up and tiny marine life flourishes.

Peak Months: Late May through August sees the most activity, with June and July usually offering the best numbers.
Weather Matters: Calm, sunny days are best. The sharks often swim near the surface, making them easy to spot when seas are flat.
Tide and Time: Mid-morning or late afternoon can be prime, especially when plankton rises toward the sunlight near the surface.

Patience pays off. Some days you might see a lone dorsal fin slicing through the water, while other days, a small group drifts together as they feed.

What to Expect During a Sighting

Spotting a basking shark in England is a low-key, gentle thrill. You likely won’t see dramatic breaching or fast movement. Instead, watch for:

A large, curved dorsal fin just breaking the surface
The tip of a long tail fin trailing behind
Slow, steady swimming near the top of the water
Sometimes two or three moving together in a loose group

It feels almost dreamlike to watch these huge fish glide by. The scene is usually silent, with just the gentle movement of water around you or your boat.

Threats To Basking Sharks

Commercial fishing is a major problem for basking sharks. While fishers don’t usually target them, these sharks often end up caught by accident, tangled in massive nets meant for other species. This is called “by-catch,” and it’s a silent killer.

A single lost shark might seem small, but when you add up numbers from fishing boats all across their range, the impact grows fast. Basking sharks also grow slowly and have very few young, making it hard for their population to bounce back from heavy losses.

Net entanglements: Sharks caught accidentally in trawler nets or drifting fishing lines.
Long recovery times: Even small drops in population are serious, as these sharks can take up to 20 years to reach maturity.

Ghost Fishing and Ocean Waste

Imagine abandoned fishing gear—nets, lines, ropes—floating unseen in the depths. Known as “ghost gear,” this lost equipment keeps catching and killing sea life long after it’s dropped. Basking sharks, with their large size and slow speed, are especially at risk.

The impact is often invisible unless someone finds a stranded animal or retrieves ghost nets. These silent traps drift for years, and a tangled shark may never escape.

Lost nets can wrap around fins or gills.
Many cases go unreported, so the real number is unknown.
Efforts to remove ghost gear from UK waters help, but new waste appears all the time.

Plastic Pollution and Its Hidden Dangers

Plastic doesn’t just float on the surface; small pieces known as microplastics fill the water where basking sharks feed. As filter feeders, these sharks can easily swallow tiny particles along with their regular plankton diet.

Over time, plastics can affect their health in ways that are hard to see right away. If the ocean is a kitchen, plastic is the invisible poison in the pantry.

Sharks consume microplastics as they filter the water.
Chemicals from plastics can build up in their bodies.
Plastic pollution makes the situation worse. Go zero waste!
Use a microfibre filter, if laundering synthetic clothes.

Ship Strikes

Ships can hit basking sharks, and harm or kill them. Basking sharks are particularly at risk in areas with lots of ships like the English Channel (the world’s busiest shipping lane).

Climate Change: Shifting Seas, Shifting Challenges

Warmer seas affect plankton blooms, which basking sharks rely on for food. If the timing of plankton growth changes or the blooms shrink, these sharks can face seasons with very little to eat.

Rising ocean temperatures also shift where plankton grows, pushing the natural feeding grounds farther from the English coast or scattering food patches. For a slow-moving shark, finding a new reliable “dining room” isn’t easy.

Less food means weaker sharks and fewer healthy calves.
Shifts in migration patterns make them harder to track and protect.
Climate change can also lead to more storms, which damage both sharks and their habitat.

Basking Sharks Are a protected species

All these problems add up, putting basking sharks in real trouble. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as “endangered,” meaning they face a high risk of disappearing for good if nothing changes.

In the UK, basking sharks have special legal protection:

It is illegal to intentionally capture, harm, or disturb them in UK waters.
Trading in their parts or products is also banned.
The UK is a leader in shark protection, but efforts must keep up with growing threats.

Helping Basking Sharks Thrive

If you want to do your part, there’s more you can do than just admire from land or sea. Small actions and conscious habits can make a difference. Here are some easy and meaningful ways to support basking sharks and ocean life:

Worldwide, the best solution is to create ocean sanctuaries. These are kind of like the ‘Switzerland of the seas’ – peaceful spaces that are not owned by any country. So no-one is allowed to fish, hunt or pollute the area. Most ships also are not allowed (nor are jet skis).
Local beach clean-ups also help by removing harmful plastic and lost fishing gear before it gets back into the sea. Working together, communities can make a difference for both sharks and the whole coastal ecosystem.
Choose reusable over disposable, taking litter home with you. If you smoke, use a personal ashtray (this immediately extinguishes cigarette butts).
Choose wildlife-friendly seafood: If you eat fish, buy from responsible sources lowers the risk of supporting unsustainable fishing that harms basking sharks through by-catch.

Help Stranded and Injured Basking Sharks

If you do see any marine creature that you are concerned about, call British Divers Marine Life Rescue(the RSPCA and Coastguard can also put you through). Keep the area quiet, to reduce stress.

If you wish, you can take a Marine Mammal Medic Course, to be of the organisation’s emergency rescue volunteers (you must have a smartphone to be alerted). You receive a lifejacket and insurance, for the first year.

You will learn how to rescue whales, dolphins and seals. The dummy whales used on beaches are so lifelike, that often locals rush over to help!

Other Sharks Found on England’s Coast

Shortfin mako sharks can swim up to 50 miles per hour. They eat swordfish and tuna and (like dolphins) dive out of the water. They are occasionally seen around English waters.
Blue sharks (like most sharks) only visit England in summer, and sometimes travel up to 5000 miles to reach us! Swimming in large groups, they are fortunate to arrive here, as tiger and great white sharks often eat them on the journey.
Common thresher sharks have a tail that’s often longer than them, which they whip around to stun or disorientate fish on sea-beds. They are again summer visitors.
Greenland sharks are smaller than great white sharks, and they swim so deep, you are unlikely to see them. They live from 250 to 400 years! The longest-living vertebrates, they only give birth after 150, and it takes 8 to 18 years to gestate a baby!

Despite urban legends and sensational headlines, no great white sharks have been officially recorded in England’s coastal waters (since possibly the 1960s). Porbeagle and blue sharks stay mostly offshore and avoid people. Hammerheads are even rarer, with only the occasional report and no ongoing sightings.

If you do see a massive fin slicing through calm water by the coast, it almost always belongs to a basking shark or, less commonly, a playful dolphin. Basking sharks are the largest, slowest, and most peaceful shark you’re likely to find anywhere near an English beach.

Other Sharks Around the World

Betsy Siber

The crazy-looking hammerhead shark (nine species) has binocular vision, and can use their heads to ram their prey. They can swim sideways, and amazingly, females can fertilise their own eggs, to give birth without a male shark.

What About Terrifying Sharks?

Bonnie Bonsall

All sharks are severely endangered, including great white sharks. These creatures do look terrifying, but usually only kill humans, when mistaking surfboards for fish (hence most attacks are in Australia).

All sharks form an important part of ecosystems. Yet many suffer to make shark fin soup (no taste, just used for decoration) with fins cut off, and they are thrown back in the sea, to die). Even some chip shops may be selling shark (labelling it cod) due to endangered fish.

Never buy anything suspect while abroad (since June 2023, it’s illegal to import shark fins into the UK). Also never buy shark teeth when abroad. Visit Bite-Back for ways to help all sharks across the world. This includes (if you eat fish) knowing which brands of tuna to avoid (some also are harming sharks and other marine creatures). You can also contact the charity to alert them of anyone selling shark.

The number of sharks being slaughtered every day – primarily for shark fin soup – is shocking, and it’s got to stop. It’s time the public learned to regard sharks as the lions and leopards of the oceans, and get right behind shark conservation campaigns, before it’s too late. Steve Backshall (Bite-Back patron)

Beauty Brands with Squalene/Squalane

Although some companies make plant-based versions, most squalene or squalane oil in cosmetics is from sharks. Commonly found in wrinkle creams, deodorants, lip balms, sunscreens and lipsticks, check for vegan logos before purchase.

It takes 3000 sharks to make just one ton of squalene, meaning almost 3 million sharks are killed each year. Just to take oil from their livers, to use in the beauty and pharmaceutical industries.

The reason shark liver oil is used is because their swim bladders keep them buoyant in the ocean (so it’s believed the same can be done for skin). But you can get the same effects from plant-based squalene from olives, sugarcane, rice brand, wheat germ or amaranth seed.

Ambergris is a product from sperm whales, often used in perfumes. Choose vegan sustainable perfumes instead.

Harmless Basking Sharks (England’s Gentle Giants)