The migration patterns of basking sharks have long been a puzzle to marine biologists, however, new research by scientists has uncovered where these large fish spend half of the year.
Marine Biologists have been unable, until now, to determine where Basking Sharks venture in the winter months.
"Using new satellite-tagging and a new geo-location technique, the researchers found that basking sharks make long migrations through tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean during the winter, traveling at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters."
"The researcher's data show that the sharks sometimes stay at those depths for weeks or even months at a time."
"In doing so, they have completely avoided detection by humans for millennia," Skomal said in the report. Basking sharks are the world's second-largest fish and can grow to more than 10 meters -- more than 30 feet -- and weigh more than seven tons."
"The researchers believe their findings could have important implications for the conservation of basking sharks, which have shown some signs of dramatic decline in the last half century and are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature."