the basking shark is a coastal-pelagic species, found throughout the world's arctic and temperate waters. in the western atlantic, it ranges from newfoundland to florida, and southern brazil to argentina. in the eastern atlantic it ranges from iceland and norway to senegal, including the parts of the mediterranean. in the western pacific, it is found off japan, china and the koreas as well as western and southern australia and the coastlines of new zealand. in the eastern pacific, it is found from the gulf of alaska to the gulf of california and from ecuador to chile.