How to Use basking shark in a Sentence

basking shark

noun
  • The basking shark is the second-largest fish species after the whale shark.
    — Charna Flam, People.com, 28 May 2025
  • The 7 Seas will more often see basking sharks and blue sharks.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 26 June 2025
  • White sharks have a pointed dorsal fin, while basking sharks have a rounded fin.
    — Rick Sobey, Hartford Courant, 22 May 2025
  • At the bridge, watch for basking sharks, porpoises, and dolphins.
    — Jamie Moore, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2018
  • The Great White shark is one of these, along with Ireland’s basking shark.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Also, white sharks have two-tone coloration, and basking sharks have uniform coloration.
    — Rick Sobey, Hartford Courant, 22 May 2025
  • Although fearsome looking, the basking sharks, which can grow up to 32 feet long, are not a threat to humans.
    — Fox News, 17 Apr. 2018
  • At one point during that swim, a basking shark appeared and swam alongside Edgley for a day and a half.
    — Ars Technica, 30 June 2024
  • Dodd said of basking sharks during an interview with the TV station.
    — Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025
  • The wildlife is worth watching out for too, with regular sightings including seals, herons and egrets, and even basking sharks.
    — Will Barker, TheWeek, 29 Apr. 2026
  • That includes some species of whales, dolphins, manatees, tuna, basking sharks and turtles.
    — Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Catching a glimpse of a basking shark off the Southern California coast is rare.
    — Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
  • The largest fish, both living (the whale shark and basking shark) and extinct (Leedsichthys), are all filter-feeders.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 9 Dec. 2010
  • Like other large marine megafauna, basking sharks play an important role in shaping ocean ecosystems.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
  • The largest common shark species in Massachusetts is the basking shark, said Skomal.
    — Don Lyman, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Aug. 2019
  • Sometimes mistaken for predatory sharks, basking sharks spend most of their time feeding near the surface, Oceana said.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2025
  • This week SharkFest is taking a look at the wilder side of sharks, including the exclusive peek above at the basking shark.
    — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 14 Aug. 2020
  • Extremely lucky passengers might even catch a glimpse of a basking shark, a gentle giant that eats plankton and can reach up to about 30 feet long.
    — Nicholas Derenzo, AFAR Media, 25 July 2025
  • Shark experts have several theories about why basking sharks would congregate.
    — Nick Caloyianis, National Geographic, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Help monitor basking shark and ocean sunfish in New England waters by sending in your photos from the seas!
    — Darlene Cavalier, Discover Magazine, 21 July 2017
  • Despite their size and menacing appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to humans.
    — Christopher Carbone, Fox News, 19 Aug. 2018
  • Instead, the video highlights why the basking shark and other endangered sea creatures require protection.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 28 July 2024
  • The typical basking shark that local whale watches see are about 20 to 25 feet long, weighing several tons.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Lucky sharks were recently spotted chowing down on a basking shark’s liver off the North Shore, according to a local whale watch.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Though the surveys were originally intended to find right whales, the researchers used the data to learn more about the enigmatic interactions of basking sharks.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 13 Apr. 2018
  • Global populations of basking shark dropped during the 20th century and the species has struggled to recover because of slow reproduction rates.
    — Christopher Carbone, Fox News, 19 Aug. 2018
  • Research has documented plastics in a variety of sharks (such as whale sharks, basking sharks, manta rays, Atlantic sharpnose sharks, and a few demersal sharks to name a few) across different habitats.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The shark can reach weights of 2,600 pounds and is considered the smallest of the three species of filter-feeding sharks, behind the whale shark and the basking shark, according to conservation group Oceana.
    — Amanda Jackson, CNN, 11 Aug. 2020
  • An old box hedge running down one side of the garden had been turned into a procession including an owl, a pig, two rabbits, a hen, a goose, a duck, a snail, a dove, some Barbara Hepworth-style abstracts, and a basking shark.
    — Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2024
  • As the second largest species of fish, basking sharks habitually swim near the surface of the water with their mouths open, feeding on plankton, according to Oceana, an international ocean advocacy group.
    — Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'basking shark.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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