Sea monster: Lucky holidaymakers get up close and personal with a basking shark next to edge of cliffs near Porthcurno in Cornwall.Gliding gracefully through the shallows just yards offshore this giant of the deep had watchers stunned as it cruised past a British resort.
The normally elusive 12ft-long basking shark dwarfed onlookers at Porthcurno in Cornwall.
The warm weather has been bringing an increasing number of the large sea creatures to British shores and the clear Cornish waters meant a lucky few have had unprecedented views of the placid leviathans.
Reaching lengths of up to 36ft, basking sharks are the largest fish in British waters.
One of only three plankton-feeding shark species, these harmless giants reappear in our coastal waters each summer.
Their presence is often marked by their large dorsal fin, though watchers are often lucky enough to see baskers breach - jumping clear of the water.
Lunch time: The warm weather has been bringing an increasing number of the large sea creatures to our shores, and the clear Cornish waters means that the majestic animals can be seen as they feed just below the surface.The basking shark is the second largest of shark species, second only to the also 'vegetarian' whale shark.
The basking shark is so-called because it is most often observed when feeding at the surface, appearing to be basking in the warmer water.
It doesn't suck up its food by pumping water through its gills - as the whale shark or the wonderfully named megamouth shark. Instead, it relies only on water being pushed through its gills by swimming
The basking shark - cetorhinus maximus - is the second largest fish in the world after the whale shark.
They can reach up to 36ft and weigh up to seven tons. They are the largest wild animal to regularly visit Britain.
Despite their bulk they can leap clear of the water, but they get their name because they bask on the surface.
They filter the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool every hour to take in enough plankton.
They are a protected species in Britain, but are killed in large numbers elsewhere for their liver oil, meat and cartilage.
In Asia they are used to make shark-fin soup. A single large fin can be worth £5,000.
They swim, at no more than 5mph, by moving their entire bodies from side to side, not just their tails like other sharks.
source: dailymail
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