Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean but eat the smallest stuff in the ocean. Their spot and pattern markings on their body are like our fingerprints- totally unique for each individual. Encountering these animals in the wild is a wonderful and thrilling experience.
Cool info about whale sharks
Size: On average, whale sharks are 5 to 10 meters (8 to 32.8 feet). They are the largest fish in the world!
Habitat: Tropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Usually they are found offshore but will occasionally be close to shore.
Diet: Whale sharks use filter feeding to eat plankton, small fish, and fish eggs. Whale sharks will occasionally eat small crustaceans and squid. Young whale sharks can eat up to 50 pounds of plankton per day!
Reproduction: Whale sharks are ovoviviparous- embryo is formed within an egg which then hatches inside the mother’s uterus. The mothers give birth to live young. The only litter that has been recorded consisted of more than 300 pups!
IUCN Red Listing: Endangered
Scientists Corner – Connecting Scientists with the Public
Scientists encounter the greatest gathering of whale sharks ever recorded.
When: Why were hundreds of whale sharks gathering in Mexican Coastal Waters of the Caribbean Sea between 2005-2009? Well Dr. Dove Alastair from the Georgia Aquarium wanted to find out.
Researchers were surprised when locals reported an unusual and large aggregation of whale sharks that occurred offshore in a neighboring area from Cabo Catoche, an area where whale sharks have typically been seen aggregating in the past. The movement of whale sharks from The Cabo Catoche, an area of high productivity (food) to the “Afuera” (Spanish for “outside”), an area that appeared to have much less productivity, made researchers curious as to what attracted so many whale sharks to the Afuera.
Findings: Researchers found that The Afuera differed from the Cabo Catoche in the type of productivity that occurred at each site. Although the Afuera visually looked unproductive, the area was abundant with fish eggs belonging mostly to little tunny. On the other hand, Cabo Catoche was plentiful with crustacean zooplankton. The whale sharks seemed to aggregate towards The Afuera which had a high density of fish eggs as an alternative towards the plankton at the Cabo Catoche. The exceptional number of whale sharks at The Afuera may be due to an extraordinary year for little tunny spawning or that more whale sharks were drawn away from other sites in previous years. The quality and amount of plankton in the Cabo Catoche may have also decreased, causing whale sharks to look elsewhere for food.
Result: The study pushed for greater conservation efforts of the Cabo Catoche and The Afuera since both were sites of high biodiversity and productivity. The initial efforts from Proyecto Domino resulted in the Whale Shark Biosphere Reserve but this did not include The Afuera. The Afuera later became included in what is known as the largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Mexico, the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve (MCBR). MCBR spans down the Mexican Caribbean coast to Sian Kaan.
Did you know…
- A whale sharks’ eyes are covered with tiny teeth called dermal denticles. The tiny teeth protect the shark’s eyeballs.
- Whale sharks are one of only three species of shark that filter feeds.
- Even though whale sharks are filter feeders, they still have around 3,000 small teeth within their mouths.
Where to swim with whale sharks
| Where | When |
|---|---|
| Galapagos Marine Reserve (Darwin and Wolf islands) | June – Nov |
| Donsol, Philippines | Nov – June |
| Ningaloo, Australia | March – May |
| Maldives, South Ari Atoll | year round |
| Maldives, Baa Atoll, Hanifaru Bay | May – June, Oct – Nov |
| La Paz, Mexico | Oct – May |
| Yucatan, Mexico | May – Sept |
| Madagascar | Nov – Dec |
| St Helena | Feb – March |
| Belize | Mid March – June |
| Utila, Honduras | end of Feb – April, and then again in lesser amounts Oct – Dec |
| Tofo, Mozambique | Oct – March |
Written by McKenna Hardie, Intern, Shark Angels