Document Type
Report
Publication Date
12-2025
Keywords
Salish Sea, Emerging issues, Northeast Pacific, Basking sharks, Conservation, Recovery
Abstract
For around thirty million years, basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) have filter-fed on plankton across Earth’s ocean. They once gathered in aggregations of hundreds (some estimate thousands) on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and individuals were common throughout the Salish Sea until an eradication program sponsored by the Canadian government in the 1950s-60s drove the species to near extinction. This paper provides an overview of the historical population data and changing cultural attitudes toward basking sharks in the Salish Sea and greater Northeast Pacific and lays out the possibilities for conservation and recovery.
Sponsorship/Conference/Institution
Salish Sea Institute
Recommended Citation
Bushnell, K.P. (2025). Basking sharks in the Salish Sea and greater Northeast Pacific. Emerging Issues in the Salish Sea, Issue 11, C.R. Elliser (Ed.). Salish Sea Institute, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf