Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 153 



soupy or gelatinous mass. On several occasions, however, this has been found to consist 

 chiefly of minute Crustacea, this being true of the only western Atlantic specimen whose 

 stomach contents has been recorded.^' 



Abundance. The published records show that there is much variation in the number 

 of Basking Sharks in the centers of abundance over periods of years. For example, great 

 schools were seen during the summer of 1776 and for a few succeeding summers off the 

 coast of Wales,^* but no comparable numbers have ever been reported there subsequently. 

 Similarly, along the Norwegian coast, where Basking Sharks formerly supported an inter- 

 mittent fishery, a paucity in the first half of the 1 8th century and again around 1 840 alter- 

 nated with a comparative abundance around 1800 and 1880; since then only occasional 

 specimens have been reported yearly from one Norwegian locality or another." Similar 

 fluctuations are also reported for the western Atlantic, but with less definite evidence (see 



P- 155). 



Basking Sharks Reported as Sea Serpents or Other Monsters. Without entering 

 into the controversy regarding the so-called "sea serpent," we may point out that the 

 Basking Shark has formed the demonstrable basis of sea serpent stories on several occa- 

 sions; "as the carcase of the shark rots on the shore, or is buffeted against the rocks, the 

 whole of the gristly skeleton of the jaws and gill arches, by far the bulkiest part of the 

 head skeleton, as well as the pectoral and pelvic fins, is soon washed away, leaving only the 

 backbone and the somewhat curiously shaped box-like cranium."'* As a recent instance of 

 this nature we may point to the wide publicity given by the press and radio to a supposed sea 

 serpent whose identity was based upon the skeleton of a Basking Shark about 25 feet long 

 that was stranded on the beach at the tip of Cape Cod near Provincetown, and which we 

 were able to examine.^" Also, it has been suggested repeatedly that the dorsal and caudal 

 fins of Basking Sharks, swimming in line at the surface, have been the basis for stories of 

 at least some of the reported sea serpents or other supposed monsters, especially in north- 

 ern Scandinavian waters. 



Relation to Man. The livers of medium-sized to large Basking Sharks will yield any- 

 where from about 80 to 200 gallons of oil, and occasionally as much as 400 gallons, with 

 a maximum reported yield of 600 gallons.'" As the oil is considered nearly or quite equal 

 to sperm oil for use In lamps, it was readily saleable up to the time when animal oils were 

 replaced by petroleum products for lighting. For example, the oil of a specimen taken at 

 Provincetown in 1836 or 1837 yielded Its captor $ 103 ; even as far back as the last part of 

 the eighteenth century a large one in British waters was said to be worth the equivalent of 



25. Hussakoff, Copeia, 21, 1915: 25. 26. Pennant, Brit. Zool., 5, 1776: 102. 



27. Collett (Norg-es Fiske, 3, 1905: 83) lists about 25 records for the period 1S81-1905. See also Lijbbert and 

 Ehrenbaum (Handb. Seefisch. Nordeurop., 2, 1936: 281) for general summary of fluctuations. 



28. Norman and Fraser, Giant Fishes, 1937: 21. 



29. For detailed account, with photograph, see Schroeder (New Engl. Natural., 2, 1939: i). 



30. Stevenson (Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish. [1902], 1904: 227); many of the older records of yield are expressed in 

 "barrels" of unknown volume. 



