Talk:Basking shark

Liver oil
I seem to recall watching a documentary on the BBC many years ago which mentioned that the liver oil possessed unusual properties which made it useful in hydraulic systems used in high altitude military aircraft in the 1950s, the Vulcan bomber as I remember. Can anyone confirm that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.26.109.182 (talk) 16:38, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

ScottyBoy900Q's image
I've reverted ScottyBoy900Q's insertion of Image:Bskshrk.jpg due to copyright concerns. Scotty apparently took the image from this NEFSC page, presumably under the assumption that any content in a .gov domain is public domain. This is not true, however, and the image at hand is explicitly credited to Chris Gotschalk. As far as I can tell, Gotschalk is not a NOAA employee and therefore his image cannot be taken as public domain unless specifically released as such. This image should not be used until its copyright status is clarified. -- Hadal 18:03, 26 September 2005 (UTC)
 * There is a difference between the statements "photo by" and "copyright." US Government websites tend to be pretty good about making that distinction.  Take any given navy ship photo and you'll see that the image is usually attributed to someone else, and not to the Navy or its personnel.  They give the navy permission to use it and it is still listed as "photo by" so and so on navy websites and that is still considered public domain unless it is marked "copyright" by so and so.  I shot this Chris Gotschalk an email just to ask his thoughts. --ScottyBoy900Q 21:50, 26 September 2005 (UTC)
 * After contacting the photographer, he not only gave full permission to use the image, he also sent a larger clearer version of the image. --ScottyBoy900Q 22:44, 27 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Wow! Thanks for doing the legwork; I hope I didn't come off as peevish by challenging the image's legality, but I was only trying to keep the project's goals in mind. Your analysis of government disclosure practices is (in most cases) correct, but even they disclaim any assurances and recommend contacting the author before commercial use. (From one of NOAA's copyright notices: "Nor does the U.S. government warrant that use of the works is free of any claims of copyright infringement.") I've had mixed success when contacting biologists for their images (many have a concern that their images will be used to illustrate inaccurate text, and that this will somehow tarnish their reputation), but this case has turned out to be well worth the effort. The high-res version adds invaluable visual data to the article, and I thank you greatly for securing its use. (And much thanks to Chris, too, if you read this.) Cheers, -- Hadal 03:10, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Not a problem. --ScottyBoy900Q 04:59, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
 * I thought this might be of interest to people. In my e-mailings with the photographer, Chris Gotschalk, he wrote this:
 * I did take the photo. It was a pretty amazing day.  April Fools Day, 1991. People were calling the marine lab saying that there were hundreds of sharks just offshore.  Of course, we figured it was a joke until we saw all the big dorsal fins outside the kelp bed.  Clear water, calm seas, about 50 of these things swimming around. Hasn't happened again since. Glad you can use the image.
 * Just thought that was an interesting story. --ScottyBoy900Q 18:21, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

Very interested in the reported jumping by basking sharks. I saw this behaviour in 1978 on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Basking sharks are common there. While walking a costal path I saw a large shark (5-6 metres) jump out the water twice. I then saw the shark swim away in its distinctive style. This was within 100m of the shore. I'm sure no other shark species of that size are found in those waters. So, for what its worth, I can confirm that they do indeed jump.Fairtrader 09:15, 1 August 2007 (UTC)FairtraderFairtrader 09:15, 1 August 2007 (UTC) Guys I want to add a picture of a large specimen that has an estimated length 11~12 meter accidently caught in 2004. Do you think it's OK to insert it to the anatomy part? I'm new here on wiki anyone willing to help me do this? I can send him the image by email.VicLin (talk) 16:04, 15 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I may have missed something, but saying that the Zuiyo Maru case was a Basking Shark does not seem to be correct. Whilst I do not sugest it is something else definitively, the corpse was never properly identified, so saying it is definately the decomposed corspe of a Basking Shark seems to be an assumption on the part of the author.

Me and my friend think Basking Sharks are totally sick!

Synonymy
The list of names given as "later described as" looks to me like a formal taxonomic synonymy. A couple of them are trinomials, which implies that the authors were describing a separate subspecies now thought not to be distinct enough to recognize. Some authors may not have "described" it at all, but merely renamed it. If we're going to mention the synonymy, a more tabular and less confusing presentation might be preferable. Myopic Bookworm (talk) 14:54, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Unusual assertion
Does anyone have a reference for this sentence: The seemingly useless teeth of basking sharks may play a role in courtship behaviour, possibly as a means for the male to keep hold of the female during mating. If not, I would suggest it be removed. OliAtlason (talk) 04:06, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Can not find any reference that agrees, found another that states that they might be used before birth to eat eggs, added that and the ref. --Stefan talk 06:00, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you for checking it ! OliAtlason (talk) 15:24, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Bot report : Found duplicate references !
In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :) DumZiBoT (talk) 23:23, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * "FLMNH" :

New Information on Habitats
Can someone add some information about the new winter habitat of the sharks. A possible reference: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/baskingshark/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.181.233.143 (talk) 22:06, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

http://www.englishrussia.com/?p=251

WP:CRYSTAL
Removed this per WP:CRYSTAL - "Like other large sharks, basking sharks could some day be at risk of extinction due to a combination of low resilience and overfishing if good conservation practices are not followed." Any species you can name could someday be at risk of extinction due to something or other. -- 201.37.230.43 (talk) 17:08, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Some have disappeared?
"some have disappeared and others need protection." - Some what - subspecies? Populations? --Chriswaterguy talk 23:12, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

Engvar
This article was written in British English, and unless there is good reason to change it, should stay there. --John (talk) 09:13, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Steinbeck and the Sea Monster.
In John Steinbeck's Log From The Sea of Cortez he speaks of a "sea monster" washed up on the beach near Monterey, CA. That is, the locals wanted it to be a sea-monster, but when they inspected it, they found a note pinned to its head:

" Don’t worry about it, it’s a basking shark. [Signed] Dr. Rolph Bolin of the Hopkins Marine Station.” Dr. Bolin’s.. kindness was a blow to the people of Monterey. They so wanted it to be a sea-serpent. Even we hoped it would be. When sometimes a true sea-serpent, complete and undecayed, is found and caught, a shout of triumph will go through the world. “There, you see, ” men will say, “I knew they were there all the time. I just had a feeling they were there.” — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:E94D:7AF:72E1:1934 (talk) 08:22, 13 November 2017 (UTC)

Record weight
regarding this edit, do you have access to the source and know it says 16 tons and not 19 tons? Or is this from another reference? Rhinopias (talk) 21:03, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Yes, I have. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thalassophoneus (talk • contribs) 21:10, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Ok, thanks! Rhinopias (talk) 21:17, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Longest reliably measured
The earliest reference I could find for that 12.2 m (40 ft) basking shark caught off Eastern Canada in August 1851 is Moses Henry Perley's Reports on the sea and river fisheries of New Brunswick (1852, pp. 222-223). He doesn't state how it was measured though, so why does the article state that it is the "largest accurately measured specimen"? I don't think a website without references and anything Gerald Wood claims should be considered reliable sources. Other secondary sources (every book I've read on sharks) that mention this specimen just seem to repeat each other. Does anyone know of a source that mentions how this specimen was measured? OM2003 (talk) 21:06, 7 June 2018 (UTC)

Reproduction
What is known aboiut breesing and reproduction of this species? Crawiki (talk) 18:51, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Basking sharks do NOT filter with gill rakers sensu strictu!
Basking sharks are both the only plankton-filtrating sharks which filter passively AND do so with REMODELED PLACOID SCALES ON their gill arches instead of remodeled gill rakers ("Kiemenreusendornen" in german, respectively) - that, indeed "resembles the comb-like gillraker structure found in bony fishes"

I want to convince you by looking at the awesome study (indeed, the abstract would be enough) carried out by Paig-Tran in 2013: https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ar.22850

"Basking sharks  have branchial filters that lack a cartilaginous core; instead they are composedentirely  of  smooth  keratin." - remodeled gill rakers as found in Rhincodon typus, Megachasma pelagios and all eleven species of Mobula remain with this cartilaginous core as a link to their origin as part of the branchial arches. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BlueTuraco99 (talk • contribs) 13:55, 8 June 2022 (UTC)

Breaching
I was lucky enough to see basking shark breach around 1978. It happened just off the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland where basking sharks were common at the time. I was walking a coastal path when a shark twice leapt clear of the water about 50m off the shore. It than swam away with the characteristic slow stroke, its dorsal and tail fins showing above the surface. Addie 2020 (talk) 07:25, 18 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Cool. Only if you have reliable sources can you add it to the article. Edward-Woodrow :) [ talk ] Edward-Woodrow :) [ talk ] 20:13, 6 August 2023 (UTC)