This is a sluggish, inoffensive fish, helpless of attack so far as its minute teeth are concerned. It spends much time sunning itself at the surface of the water, often lying with its back awash and dorsal fin high out of water, or on its side, or even on its back sunning its belly; sometimes it loafs along with the snout out of water, the mouth open, gathering its provender of plankton.
The basking shark rivals, though it does not equal, the whale shark of tropical seas in size. We read, for example, of one of 35 to 38 feet harpooned by Capt. N. E. Atwood off Provincetown, Mass., about 1863, that towed the fishing smack all night, and broke loose finally. From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) online courtesy of MBL/WHOI http://www.gma.org/fogm/Cetorhinus_maximus.htm
The basking shark is the second largest fish, with reported specimens larger than the 33 foot schooner GREEN DRAGON.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Before the coming of the white man this great shark seems to have been a regular inhabitant of the southern part of the Gulf of Maine. And tradition has it that large numbers were taken in Massachusetts waters, especially off the tip of Cape Cod, during the first half of the eighteenth century, for their liver oil which was then in demand for illuminating purposes. However, the local stock seems soon to have gone the same way as the local stock of the North Atlantic right whale; that is, into the try pot. [Fishes of the Gulf of Maine -1953]
In the past, basking sharks were hunted worldwide for their oil, meat, fins, and vitamin rich livers. Today, most fishing has ceased except in China and Japan. The fins are sold as the base ingredient for shark fin soup. A “wet” or fresh pair of fins can fetch up to $1,000 in Asian fish markets while dried-processed fins generally sell for $350 per pound. The liver is sold in Japan as an aphrodisiac, a health food, and its oil as a lubricant for cosmetics. From a 4-ton (3629 kg), 27 feet (8.2 m) basking shark, a fisherman will get 1 ton of meat and 100 gallons (380 liters) of oil. Interestingly, many tales of sea serpents and monsters have originated from sightings of basking sharks cruising single file, snout to tail, near the surface of the water. In addition, the decomposing remains of basking shark carcasses have been brought to the surface by commercial fishing gear and have also been known to wash up on shore. Due to the basking shark’s relatively small skull in comparison to its body length, it seems unbelievable to many people that these carcasses are those of a shark rather than some unknown beast. [ https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/cetorhinus-maximus ]
More here from NOAA [ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/basking-sharks-gather-large-groups-northeast-us-coast ]
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I expected to see some kind of news and picture of a basking shark off Gloucesters coast, and you have a nice sail boat picture. Huh?
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Deb, if you were ghosting along aboard that boat in a light breeze and a basking shark equal to your size came alongside, what would you say? Close encounters of the big fish and whale kind give you a certain feeling when you are eye to eye with your eyeball just a few feet off the water. I’ve been sailing that boat since 1962 and have been visited by some notable large creatures. Never a shark this large but whales longer than the boat.
Al Bezanson
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So True AL…Whales can, let us say tip the scale out of curiosity scare you a bit when close or rub against, can attest to a few close encounters of the curious kind in my friend little speed boat 🙂 Dave
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Very Interesting thanks for sharing this history! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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