274 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore 



It is capable of greater expansion, and with a single 

 gulp it can capture a prodigious number of these ani- 

 mals. Now, naturally, with the food that it takes in, 

 a considerable quantity of water is engulfed. The pro- 

 vision for the retention of this food and for the escape 

 of the water is as singular as that of the whales. In 

 each of the very wide gill clefts which this shark has, 

 the internal opening is guarded by a sort of strainer, an 

 apparatus formed by the hard supports of the gills. It 

 is this sieve which allows the water to pass out of the 

 mouth while holding in the organisms. Thus, in a 

 sense, the creature may be said to take in its food at a 

 breath. 



As its name would indicate, it loves to lie In the sun. 

 It lives In the North Atlantic, and there it may be seen 

 In calm weather collected In companies, with broad lin 

 erect, basking motionless at the surface. 



