Atlantic Basking Sharks Cross Entire Ocean Basins In Single Migrations

A fish weighing five tons can vanish and reappear an ocean away.

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Some tracked basking sharks have shifted from surface waters to deep offshore zones during the same migration cycle.

Satellite tracking has revealed that Atlantic basking sharks undertake transoceanic migrations, traveling thousands of kilometers between seasonal feeding grounds. Individuals tagged in the northeastern Atlantic have later been detected near North America and West Africa, crossing vast stretches of open ocean.

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These migrations can exceed 9,000 kilometers, comparable to flying from London to Los Angeles, yet they are completed by a slow-swimming filter feeder moving through unpredictable currents and shipping lanes. The journey exposes them to multiple national jurisdictions, fishing pressures, and temperature extremes.

Such basin-scale movement means basking shark conservation cannot be managed by a single country. Their range connects ecosystems across continents, turning one animal into a living bridge between distant marine environments and complicating international marine protection strategies.

Source

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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