Gliding through the ocean and feeding on tiny animals, the basking shark seems far more peaceful than its ferocious relative the great white shark . But it turns out languid basking sharks can swim as fast and jump out of the water as high as great whites if they so choose.

Great white sharks are known to jump out of the water – or breach – to capture agile seals and otters. By comparison, basking sharks eat mostly zooplankton that drift into their 1 metre wide megamouths . They …