Vertical Feeding Posture Allows Basking Sharks To Exploit Dense Plankton Layers

This giant sometimes feeds nearly upright in the water column.

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Plankton layers can shift vertically between day and night, influencing shark feeding behavior.

Observations have documented basking sharks adopting near-vertical feeding postures when exploiting dense plankton concentrations. By positioning their massive bodies upright, they can remain within concentrated prey layers more effectively.

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A 10-meter fish oriented vertically in open water challenges expectations of how large marine animals maneuver. Maintaining balance and steady filtration in this posture requires precise buoyancy control and fin stabilization.

This feeding flexibility underscores how even the largest fish adapt dynamically to microscopic prey distribution. In the layered architecture of the ocean, survival depends on aligning massive bodies with millimeter-scale food sources.

Source

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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