This entry was posted in Sharks and tagged amazing sharks, filter feeder, filter feeding sharks, shark, sharks, whale shark, whale sharks on Augby oceanlifeeducation. Learn more about sharks? Check out our Amazing Sharks Online Shark Course Check out our Shark Resourcesįurther reading… Save Our Seas – Whale Sharks Down Under Able to process over 6,000 litres of water each hour.Filter feeders – feeding mainly on plankton.Teeth: over 300 rows of tiny teeth – not used for eating!.Whale sharks spend most of their time near the surface.Habitat: warm open waters of the tropical oceans.The largest accurately measured whale shark was 61. A whale shark’s mouth is about 1.5 meters wide, so it’s an impressive sight! The 3 largest sharks include (in size order)ĭiet: Plankton (tiny organisms), krill and small fish Ten Amazing Whale Shark Facts Because of its size and cartilaginous skeleton, it does not fossilize well and in life it is very difficult to weigh accurately. Instead, whale sharks (and other filter feeding sharks) swim along the ocean’s currents with their huge mouths open wide, filtering large quantities of water as they go and extracting tiny organisms called plankton & krill from the water. Whale sharks have rows of over 300 tiny teeth, but as filter feeders they do not use these teeth to eat. So, whale sharks really are sharks…and they get their name from the fact that they are enormous! What Do Whale Sharks Eat? ![]() Their mouth alone stretches four feet wide. In fact they are the largest fish in the ocean. Size and Weight: Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish, measuring up to 45 feet in length and adults weigh about 41,000 pounds. Unlike whales, they are not mammals and their young are not fed by the mother’s milk. They have all the 33 characteristics of a shark, such as a cartilage skeleton, five pairs of gills and unfused pectoral fins to the head. The answer is yes, whale sharks really are sharks. So, it’s no surprise that people often ask us the question…is a whale shark a shark? Are Whale Sharks Really Sharks? They are enormous, reaching 12 meters or more in length and weighing as much as 16 tons – basically, they are about the size of a bus! And they don’t have sharp teeth, in fact their teeth don’t really assist in feeding at all. 26319).Whale sharks look quite different to how we imagine a shark to look. 116781), but probably the most reliably measured size so far is 12 m TL (Ref. Maximum length of up to 21 m and weight of up to 42 tons have been reported (Ref. Estimated longevity of 80.4 yrs is much larger than reported maximum age 38 yrs based on vertebral bands for a female of 11.9 m TL. Populations have been depleted in several countries by harpoon fisheries (Ref. Highly valued commodity in ecotourism operations. 13571), cartilage for health supplements and skin for leather products (Ref. Utilized fresh, frozen, dried and salted for human consumption, liver processed for oil, fins used for shark-fin soup, offal probably for fishmeal (Ref. Females of 438 to 562 cm are immature (FIGIS 09/2003). Ovoviviparous, with litter size of over 300 pups (Ref. When actively feeding on zooplankton the sharks turn their heads from side to side, with part of the head lifted out of the water, and the mouth opened and closed 7-28 times per minute these suction gulps were synchronized with the opening and closing of the gill slits (Ref. Whale sharks make up for their missing rostrum with large, broad pectoral fins and a flat underside of their head, keeping their planing surface balanced behind their mouth. Often seen in a vertical position with the head at or near the surface when feeding (Ref. Feed on planktonic and nektonic prey, such as small fishes (sardines, anchovies, mackerel, juvenile tunas and albacore), small crustaceans and squids (Ref. ![]() Highly migratory between ocean basins and national jurisdictions, but returns to the same sites annually (Ref. ![]() Often associated with groups of pelagic fishes, especially scombrids (Ref. Found singly, or in aggregations of over 100 individuals (Ref. Reported to frequent shallow water areas near estuaries and river mouths, sometimes during seasonal shrimp blooms (Ref. Sometimes seen cruising near outer wall (Ref. Often seen offshore but coming close inshore, sometimes entering lagoons or coral atolls (Ref. World's largest fish, but is harmless to humans (Ref.
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