Since fall of 1990 the PSRF has tagged a world record number of basking sharks tagged with the present tally notched at 81 baskers tagged. Except for the Monterey bay basking sharks have not been tagged anywhere else along the entire West Coast. Basking sharks are highly elusive and poorly understood creature whose movements and migrations are a complete mystery. Tagging them is crucial to acquisition of these insights. PSRF A basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus cruises the waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Basking sharks are the world's second largest known species of shark.
Once abundant in the Monterey Bay there is a growing concern that this amazing species of shark has been negatively impacted by the harpoon fishery that crashed in the early 1950's as well as the ever-increasing pressures of human encroachment. Note that the shark is closely following another basker in a nose to tail formation. Sometimes several basking sharks will form up in this position. The significance of this behavior is the source of much speculation. K Copyright PSRF Basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus is the world's second largest known shark and like the even larger whale shark, Rhincodon typus it is a filter feeder that grazes on zooplankton.