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Step 1
Locate basking sharks in coastal waters close to the surface, where they feed. They live in cool to temperate waters worldwide, feeding in cooler northern waters in the summer and migrating south during winter.
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Step 2
Find them geographically in the eastern Pacific from southern Alaska to Baja, along the entire U.S. east coast and southern Canada, along the Gulf Stream and the entire coast of Europe. They also inhabit waters off Australia's southern coast, New Zealand, the coastlines of Japan and China, the Red Sea, South Africa and southern South America.
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Step 3
Identify the basking shark by its long, bulky size, growing up to 35 feet long and weighing up to four tons. They range from black to gray-brown to blue on top and off-white to gray on their underside.
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Step 4
Look for their enormous mouths, huge gills, dark, bristly gill rakers and short, conical snouts. You can usually spot a basking shark swimming with its mouth wide open, filtering small food particles through its gill rakers.
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Step 5
Note that basking sharks have hundreds of tiny teeth. Each tooth curves backwards with a single cusp, yet they serve little to no purpose.
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Step 6
Spot basking sharks alone, in pairs or feeding in schools of up to 100 sharks.
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Step 7
Recognize their feeding habits. A basking shark's diet consists of plankton, fish eggs and baby fish, which it filters through more than 1,500 gallons of water per hour through its gill rakers. Gill rakers trap these tiny food particles, which the shark swallows. The water exits through its gill slits.
