“Basking” Away- Rare Shark Spotted off Italy
Earlier this week, the Italian Coast Guard reported sighting of a rare 'UBO'- that's unidentified basking object. Discovered to be a baby Basking shark, the floating oddity was spotted by officials off of the coast of Taranto, a coastal town in the arch of Italy's foot. Being only a baby, the shark measured a less-than-petite 16 feet in length -a modest size for a species known to grow upwards of thirty feet- and was estimated near 2,500 kilograms. The Basking shark is protected in Mediterranean waters under the Barcelona Convention, signed in 1976. For a fish that swims at a meager 2 knots, the greatest threat during this rare encounter was injury from passing motorboats, drift nets, and trawlers. Fortunately, the shark basked by without any trouble.
