Alexander Mustard
Manx Name: Gobbag vooar (this means big mouth in Manx!)
Food: Despite their huge mouths, basking sharks are filter feeders that use their gill rakers to capture tiny organisms called zooplankton and copepods.
Habitat: They are usually found in coastal areas in temperate regions. A temperate region is an area which is neither very hot nor very cold and has 4 seasons – just like the Isle of Man!
Threats: Basking sharks have gill rakers which lets them filter feed on tiny organisms like zooplankton. However this also means they can let in microplastics.
Your Wildlife Expert Challenge: Go on a beach clean – remember to look out for nurdles, those pesky pellets of plastic that can hurt our friends the Basking Sharks.