Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus)

Whale sharks are the biggest sharks of all, with an avarage size of 8-9 meters for males and 12-14.5 meters for females, the largestwhale shark recorded was 18.8 meters long!

Whale sharks are active filter feeders, processing up to 6.000 liters of water per hour, their diet is mostly plankton, zooplankton, small schooling fish and fish eggs. They can travel billions of meters though all tropical oceans in search of large quantities of food, theyre migration routes are well known and highly predictable, usually appearing in the coasts of Mexico, Australia and India. Despite being filter feeders they have aproximately 300 rows of teeth on both jaws and a total amount of about 3.000 6 milimeter long teeth that they do not use for eating.

Not much is known about whale shark mating, but we do know they are oviviparous, meaning they grow from eggs but remain in the mothers body untill those eggs are ready to hatch, and that they can birth hundreds of babies over a prolonged period of time due to the female retaining the sperm form one maiting and continuing to produce eggs long after. Scientists are investigating wether the Philipines and Ecuador might be a birthing or mating ground for whale sharks due to pregnant females and baby sharks being regularly spotted aroung their coasts.

It is speculated that whale sharks can live from 80 to 130 years, but the're currently an endangered species due to targeted fishing, pollution, collisions with ships and bycatch. If you'd like to help protect these gentle giants you can check ou the Global Whale Shark Research & Conservation Program.