Whale sharks are big, frightening, amazing creatures. Being people, we unfortunately misunderstand them. People believe the whale sharks could tear them limb from limb. Whale sharks have developed a place in the hearts of sea animal lovers. . Whale sharks are big, misunderstood creatures.

For a shark they are quite big. They can reach 18 meters in length. In weight they can weigh up to88,000 kg. With two dorsal fins, a mackrel shaped tail, small eyes, large gill slits,and decorated with light spots they are huge. It can be gray, blue, brown with cream colored spots with pale stripes. It’s spots and dark color allow it to blend in with the sea floor.three thousand tiny teeth are all less than 6mm in length, though they are not used for eating. They are used for catching their food. The largest whale shark measured was caught in Karachi, Pakistan in 1949 measuring 12.65m long. It is a shark because it has gills and sharks have gills. They can live up to more than a hundred years of age.

For food they eat plankton, small schools of fish, and sometimes tuna. They are surface feeders. They filter water through their gill rakers trying to find food. Then it eats the plankton and small fish. Their sometimes found in tropical waters. They can be found in the Maldive Islands, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Many swim near the surface looking for food and can swim thousands of feet below the ocean.

Whale sharks have an amazing reproduction process.Whale sharks have internal fertilization and produce live young. Males have two present claspers close to their pelvic fin. How fast they grow is a mystery.

Whale sharks pay less attention to us then we realize. They pay little attention to divers and some people get lucky enough to ride them. Divers can hang on to their dorsal fins, pectoral fins, and tails. One whale shark followed the divers charter boat waiting for them to return and that continued on for three days. They have been sighted in Australia. They are captive in the Georgia Aquarium and in Asia. Their history goes back to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, between 245-65 million years ago. The first discovery of the whale shark was in 1828 in the South African Coast.

Whale sharks are becoming extinct.They are sometimes killed for soup. They have been fished for years and in danger of becoming extinct. So almost becoming extinct, several countries have banned whale shark fishing. As for injuries they have been accidentally rammed by boats. Over 20 collisions have happened over the years.

Whale sharks are huge, scary, nice creatures. Being misunderstood is one of the things they have to deal with. But they love humans. There like little tag alongs to them.So now when you hear “whale sharks are big misunderstood creatures,” agree because now you know that they are.

The end

Work Cited

book

Sharks Silent Hunters of the Deep by: Ron and Valerie Taylor pg.54

websites

1. http://0-discover.prod.sirs.com

2. http://dsc.discovery.com

3. http://www.environment.gov.au

4. http://na.oceana.org

5. www.georgiaaquarium.org