Dwellers of the sea and shore . dwellersofseasho00crow Year: 1935 Beyond the Horizon 273 approached the carcass and tore off piece after piece, and even after being badly wounded by them it per- sisted in returning to the repast. But—enough of the ill-reputed sharks. Now a few words regarding one of a very different type. This is the basking shark (Selache maxima), the largest of them all—and, by the same token, it is the largest living fish. It grows to a length of more than thirty feet. The width of its mouth is extraordinary, thus giving it an appearance of unusual ferocity. Yet, notwithst
Dwellers of the sea and shore . dwellersofseasho00crow Year: 1935 Beyond the Horizon 273 approached the carcass and tore off piece after piece, and even after being badly wounded by them it per- sisted in returning to the repast. But—enough of the ill-reputed sharks. Now a few words regarding one of a very different type. This is the basking shark (Selache maxima), the largest of them all—and, by the same token, it is the largest living fish. It grows to a length of more than thirty feet. The width of its mouth is extraordinary, thus giving it an appearance of unusual ferocity. Yet, notwithstand- BASKING SHARK. ing its terrifying size and forbidding aspect, it is quite innocuous. As a matter of fact, the creature is of a very timid disposition, and will readily retreat if ap- proached too closely. What is the reason for this remarkable behavior? The answer lies in its teeth. For a shark, they are amazingly small, and it is very probable that they serve no purpose whatever. The fish and other creatures it lives on are diminutive in size, and are such as would cause a regular man-eater shark to turn up its snout, so to speak. As large as is the mouth of this animal.
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