The Tropical Water's Gentle Giant; The Whale Shark

I decided to go big on this one! ;D

(this picture was taken by me when I went to visit the Georgia Aquarium)

Scientific name: Rhincodon typus

A fully grown adult can grow up to about 40 feet in length and can weigh up to 22 tons. But the average length of a whale shark is 25 feet and average weight is 15 tons. Like most species of sharks, the females are bigger than the males.

(picture found through google images. NOT taken by me.)

It is unknown as to how long a whale shark’s life span is, but some shark species are known to live up to 100 years of age, so for the whale shark, it is speculated that they can live to be 150 years old.


They are pelagic creatures, living in the open ocean and are found in all oceans of the world except the Southern, Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean. So basically, in tropical waters near the equator.

Even though a whale shark is cold blooded, they are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live pups.

Whale sharks are sexually mature at the age of 30. So, this is the age where they are able to reproduce.

Whale sharks have 3,000 teeth in 300 rows that are no bigger than 1/12 of an inch (about the size of a match head). So it's teeth essentially serve no purpose. They are actually filter feeders. More specifically, Planktivores. They swim through the water with their mouths open, sucking in water and pumping that water over and then out of its gill slits.

Its gill slits have these bristly like structures called rakers, which act like a net or a sieve, straining plankton from the water it has sucked in.

A whale shark primarily eats plankton, but it will also eat sardines, anchovies, krill and mackerel. They filter about 1,500 gallons of water every hour.

The whale shark does not have any natural predators in the wild, but, humans are their biggest threat right now.

Whale sharks are hunted by humans in Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore.

(got this picture from google images. NOT taken by me.)

Whale sharks aren't Endangered, but they are listed as Vulnerable in  the wild.

FUN FACTS!

1. Some people get confused, but Whale sharks are NOT whales. They are the Worlds largest fish.

2. They are very slow swimmers, swimming no faster than 3 mph.

3. The scientific part of its name "Rhincodon" is latin for "Rasp teeth".

Thanks for reading my second Sea Creature report!
Seajellys reports will be updated weekly, so be sure to check in again on the 30th of March for the next one.

Also, remember to check out my other blog!

bluemenpachi.blogspot.com

Much mahaloz readers!
:D