Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is protected under section 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Therefore it is an offence to kill, harm or disturb these creatures within twelve miles of the shores of the British Isles, where they spend most of their time filter feeding on the abundant plankton. It is classed as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN red list, as it as been overfished worldwide - especially for its fins.

Hence, the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is protected within the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn Convention), under Appendix I and II. This covers waters outside our own National limits, and encourages collaboration between Range States to enact actions to control factors that might endanger the species.

The basking shark is also included within the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, with the same applications concerning disturbance or harassment as with cetaceans.

Although numbers worldwide are uncertain, in British waters their numbers are considered to have increased in recent years. There are now thought to be often 10,000 in Scottish waters alone (video from twelve minutes but the rest is interesting!), which could be due to conservation or a lack of plankton in the rest of the world. This is due to increased Dam building, which brings them here as dams cut off the supply of nutrients to the ocean and reduce spawning grounds through increasing coastal erosion.