Canis lupus hominis

This video purports to be footage of a white shark off the coast of Cornwall.

Although it is possible that a white shark could show up there, this specimen is not one.

It is a basking shark. Now, it’s very easy to mistake the two species. Indeed, Kipling’s “The White Seal” claims that Kotick survived attacks from the “basking shark.” Kipling most likely meant the white shark, but in those days, it was not uncommon for people to refer to basking sharks and white sharks as if they were the same species.

They are not. Basking sharks are similarly built, but they can get substantially larger than white sharks. In fact, it is very likely that reports of huge white sharks are actually misidentified basking sharks.

Now, how do I know this is a basking shark. Location tells me a lot. White sharks are very rare north of the Bay of Biscay. (Check out the range map) It is possible that one could make it to the coast of southern England. Location is a good hint, but it is not foolproof.

Now, it is well-known that white sharks try to avoid boats. Jaws is mostly fiction mixed in with some out of date biology. If a boat approached a white shark, it is very likely to swim quickly away. It is unlikely to stay unless some food source or potential food source was the water.

Basking sharks tend to ignore boats and lazily swim along as they filter feed. It seems to me that this is the behavior that this shark is exhibiting.

Now, behavior is also not fool-proof. Sometimes white sharks do things you don’t expect, and it would not be unreasonable for one just swim around really slowly, even if a boat approached. It is not normal behavior, but it is possible behavior.

The best way to tell that this is a basking hark is the fin is too rounded.  (Compare the fins). White sharks have a more pointed fin than basking sharks do. In fact, basking sharks have very rounded fins compared to other shark species.

So Britain doesn’t have its first killer shark after all. It’s just another basking shark.