The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving,
filter-feeding carpet shark
Carpet sharks are sharks classified in the order (biology), order Orectolobiformes . Sometimes the common name "carpet shark" (given because many species resemble ornately patterned carpets) is used interchangeably with "wobbegong", which is the ...
and the largest known
extant
Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Exta ...
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .
The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the most massive living non-
cetacea
Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...
n animal. It is the sole member of the genus ''Rhincodon'' and the only extant member of the family
Rhincodontidae, which belongs to the subclass
Elasmobranchii
Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including modern sharks ( division Selachii), and batomorphs (division Batomorphi, including rays, skates, and sawfish). Members of this subclass are characterised by h ...
in the class
Chondrichthyes
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fish'', which have skeleto ...
. Before 1984 it was classified as ''Rhiniodon'' into Rhinodontidae.
Whale sharks inhabit the open waters of all tropical oceans. They are rarely found in water below .
Whale sharks' lifespans are estimated to be between 80 and 130 years, based on studies of their vertebral growth bands and the growth rates of free-swimming sharks.
Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the
megamouth shark and the
basking shark
The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three Planktivore, plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sh ...
. They feed almost exclusively on
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
and small fishes, and do not pose any threat to humans.
The species was distinguished in April 1828 after the harpooning of a specimen in
Table Bay, South Africa.
Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, described it the following year. The name "whale shark" refers to the animal's appearance and large size; it is a fish, not a
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
, and like all sharks is not closely related to
whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
s.
Description
Whale sharks possess a broad, flattened head with a large mouth and two small eyes located at the front corners.
Unlike many other sharks, whale shark mouths are located at the front of the head rather than on the underside of the head. A whale shark was reported to have a mouth across. Whale shark mouths can contain over 300 rows of tiny teeth and 20 filter pads which it uses to
filter feed.
The
spiracles are located just behind the eyes. Whale sharks have five large pairs of
gill
A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...
s. Their skin is dark grey with a white belly marked with an arrangement of pale grey or white spots and stripes that is unique to each individual. The skin can be up to thick and is very hard and rough to the touch. The whale shark has three prominent ridges along its sides, which start above and behind the head and end at the
caudal peduncle
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
.
The shark has two
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...
s set relatively far back on the body, a pair of
pectoral fins
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...
, a pair of pelvic fins and a single medial
anal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...
. The
caudal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
has a larger upper lobe than the lower lobe (
heterocercal).
Whale sharks have been found to possess
dermal denticles on the surface of their eyeballs that are structured differently from their body denticles. The dermal denticles, as well as the whale shark's ability to retract its eyes deep into their sockets, serve to protect the eyes from damage.
Evidence suggests that whale sharks can recover from major injuries and may be able to regenerate small sections of their fins. Their spot markings have also been shown to reform over a previously wounded area.
The complete and annotated genome of the whale shark was published in 2017.
Rhodopsin
Rhodopsin, also known as visual purple, is a protein encoded by the ''RHO'' gene and a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It is a light-sensitive receptor protein that triggers visual phototransduction in rod cells. Rhodopsin mediates dim ...
, the light-sensing pigment in the
rod cell
Rod cells are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in lower light better than the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Rods are usually found concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in ...
s of the retina, is normally sensitive to green and used to see in dim light, but in the whale shark (and the bottom-dwelling
cloudy catshark
The cloudy catshark (''Scyliorhinus torazame'') is a common species of Scyliorhinidae, catshark, belonging to the family (biology), family Scyliorhinidae. It is a benthic fish, bottom-dweller that inhabits rocky reefs in the northwestern Pacific ...
) two amino acid substitutions make the pigment more sensitive to blue light instead, the light that dominates the deep ocean. One of these mutations also makes rhodopsin vulnerable to higher temperatures. In humans, a similar mutation leads to
congenital stationary night blindness, as the human body temperature makes the pigment decay. This pigment becomes unstable in shallow water, where the temperature is higher and the full spectrum of light is present. To protect from this instability, the whale shark deactivates the pigment when in shallow water (as otherwise the pigment would hinder full color vision). In the colder environment at 2,000 meters below the surface where the shark dives, it is activated again. The mutations thus allow the shark to see well at both ends of its great vertical range. The eyes have also lost all
cone
In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...
opsin
Animal opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors and a group of proteins made light-sensitive via a chromophore, typically retinal. When bound to retinal, opsins become retinylidene proteins, but are usually still called opsins regardless. Most pro ...
s except LWS.
Size
The whale shark is the largest non-
cetacean
Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...
animal in the world. However, the maximum size and growth patterns of the species are not well understood.
Limited evidence, mostly from males, suggests that
sexual maturity
Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...
occurs around in length, with the possibility of females sexually maturing at a similar size or larger.
Various studies have aimed to estimate the growth and longevity of whale sharks, either by analysing evidence from vertebral growth rings or measurements taken from re-sighted sharks over several years. This information is used to model growth curves, which can predict asymptotic length. The growth curves produced from these studies have estimated asymptotic lengths ranging from .
A 2020 study looked at the growth of whale shark individuals over a 10-year period around the
Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
and concluded the species exhibits
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
with regard to size, with females growing larger than males. The study found that males on average reach in length. The same study had less female data but estimated an average length of around . However, this value dropped to if data from aquarium whale sharks was included. The authors noted that these estimates represent average asymptotic size and are not the maximum sizes possible. Additionally, they acknowledged the potential for regional size variation.
Most previous growth studies have had data predominately from males and none have data from sharks over ~. Not all previous studies created separate growth curves for males and females, instead combining data from both sexes. Those studies that made sex-specific growth curves have estimated large asymptotic length estimates for males, with lengths of or more. However, mostly immature males were available in these studies, with few adults to constrain the upper portion of the growth curves.
The largest total length for the species is uncertain due to a lack of detailed documentation of the largest reported individuals. Whale sharks as large as in length have been reported in scientific literature. However, most whale sharks observed are smaller.
Large whale sharks are difficult to measure accurately, both on the land and in the water. When on land, the total length measurement can be affected by how the tail is positioned, either angled as it would be in life or stretched as far as possible. Historically, techniques such as comparisons to objects of known size and knotted ropes have been used for in-water measurements, but these techniques may be inaccurate.
Various forms of
photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant ima ...
have been used to improve the accuracy of in-water measurements, including underwater and aerial techniques.
Reports of large whale sharks
Since the 1800s, there have been accounts of very large whale sharks. Some of these are as follows:
In 1868, the Irish natural scientist
Edward Perceval Wright obtained several small whale shark specimens in the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
. Wright was informed of one whale shark that was measured as exceeding . Wright claimed to have observed specimens over and was told of specimens upwards of .
Hugh M. Smith described a huge animal caught in a bamboo fish trap in
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
in 1919. The shark was too heavy to pull ashore, and no measurements were taken. Smith learned through independent sources that it was at least 10
wa (a Thai unit of length measuring between a person's outstretched arms). Smith noted that one wa could be interpreted as either or the approximate average of , based on the local fishermen. Later sources have stated this whale shark as approximately , but the accuracy of the estimate has been questioned.
In 1934, a ship named the ''Maunganui'' came across a whale shark in the southern Pacific Ocean and rammed it. The shark became stuck on the prow of the ship, supposedly with on one side and on the other, suggesting a total length of about .
Scott A. Eckert & Brent S. Stewart reported on
satellite tracking of whale sharks from 1994 to 1996. Out of the 15 individuals tracked, two females were reported as measuring and . A long whale shark was reported as being stranded along the
Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in southwestern Maharashtra, India. The district is part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or ...
coast in 1995.
A female individual with a
standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is ...
of and an estimated total length at was reported from the Arabian Sea in 2001. In a 2015 study reviewing the size of marine
megafauna
In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...
, McClain and colleagues considered this female as being the most reliable and accurately measured.
On 7 February 2012, a large whale shark was found floating off the coast of
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, Pakistan. The length of the specimen was said to be between , with a weight of around .
File:Rhincodon typus jaws.jpg, Jaws
File:Rhincodon typus teeth.jpg, Teeth
File:Oeil et spiracle requin-baleine.JPG, Eye
File:Journal.pone.0235342.g001--B-Crop-Extract.jpg, Close up showing eyeball denticles
File:Walhai 3.jpg, Top of head
Distribution and habitat
The whale shark inhabits all tropical and warm-temperate seas. The fish is primarily
pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...
, and can be found in both coastal and oceanic habitats.
Tracking devices have shown that the whale shark displays dynamic patterns of habitat utilization, likely in response to availability of prey. Whale sharks observed off the northeast Yucatan Peninsula tend to engage in inshore surface swimming between sunrise and mid-afternoon, followed by regular vertical oscillations in oceanic waters during the afternoon and overnight. About 95% of the oscillating period was spent in
epipelagic
The photic zone (or euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone) is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis. It undergoes a series of physical, chemical, and biological ...
depths (<), but whale sharks also took regular deep dives (>), often descending in brief "stutter steps", perhaps for foraging. The deepest recorded dive was . Whale sharks were also observed to remain continuously at depths of greater than for three days or more.
The whale shark is migratory
and has two distinct subpopulations: an Atlantic subpopulation, from
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
and the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
to
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...
, South Africa, and an Indo-Pacific subpopulation which holds 75% of the entire whale shark population. It usually roams between 30°N and 35°S where water temperatures are higher than but have been spotted as far north as the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world.
The bay was ...
, Canada and the
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...
north of Japan and as far south as
Victoria, Australia
Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
.
Seasonal feeding aggregations occur at several coastal sites such as the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
and
Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...
,
Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
in Western Australia,
Darwin Island in the Galápagos,
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...
in Mexico,
Mafia Island of
Pwani Region in Tanzania,
Inhambane province in Mozambique, the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, around
Mahe in the Seychelles,
the
Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
and
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
coasts of India,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, southern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
.
In 2011, more than 400 whale sharks gathered off the
Yucatan Coast. It was one of the largest gatherings of whale sharks recorded.
Aggregations in that area are among the most reliable seasonal gatherings known for whale sharks, with large numbers occurring in most years between May and September. Associated ecotourism has grown rapidly to unsustainable levels.
Growth and reproduction
Growth, longevity, and reproduction of the whale shark are poorly understood.
Vertebral growth bands have been used to estimate the age, growth, and longevity of whale sharks. However, there was uncertainty as to whether vertebrae growth bands are formed annually or biannually.
A 2020 study compared the ratio of
Carbon-14
Carbon-14, C-14, C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
isotopes found in growth bands of whale shark vertebrae to
nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...
events in the 1950–60s, finding that growth bands are laid down annually. The study found an age of 50 years for a female and 35 years for a male.
Various studies looking at vertebrae growth bands and measuring whale sharks in the wild have estimated their lifespans from ~80 years and up to ~130 years.
Evidence suggests that males grow faster than females in the earlier stages of life but ultimately reach a smaller maximum size.
Whale sharks exhibit late sexual maturity.
One study looking at free-swimming whale sharks estimated the age at maturity in males at ~25 years.
Pupping of whale sharks has not been observed, but mating has been witnessed twice in
St Helena. Mating in this species was filmed for the first time in whale sharks off
Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
via airplane in Australia in 2019, when a larger male unsuccessfully attempted to mate with a smaller, immature female.
The capture of a ~ female in July 1996 that was pregnant with ~300 pups indicated that whale sharks are
ovoviviparous
Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...
.
The eggs remain in the body and the females give birth to live young which are long. Evidence indicates the pups are not all born at once, but rather the female retains sperm from one mating and produces a steady stream of pups over a prolonged period.
On 7 March 2009, marine scientists in the Philippines discovered what is believed to be the smallest living specimen of the whale shark. The young shark, measuring only , was found with its tail tied to a stake at a beach in
Pilar, Sorsogon, Philippines, and was released into the wild. Based on this discovery, some scientists no longer believe this area is just a feeding ground; this site may be a birthing ground, as well. Both young whale sharks and pregnant females have been seen in the waters of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where numerous whale sharks can be spotted during the summer.
In a report from
Rappler
Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripples") is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and convicted cyberlibelist ...
last August 2019, whale sharks were sighted during
WWF Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
' photo identification activities in the first half of the year. There were a total 168 sightings – 64 of them "re-sightings" or reappearances of previously recorded whale sharks. WWF noted that "very young whale shark juveniles" were identified among the 168 individuals spotted in the first half of 2019. Their presence suggests that the
Ticao Pass may be a pupping ground for whale sharks, further increasing the ecological significance of the area.
Large adult females, often pregnant, are a seasonal presence around the Galapagos Islands, which may have reproductive significance.
One study between 2011 and 2013 found that 91.5% of the whale sharks observed around
Darwin Island were adult females.
Diet

The whale shark is a
filter feeder
Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a s ...
– one of only three known filter-feeding shark species (along with the
basking shark
The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three Planktivore, plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sh ...
and the
megamouth shark). It feeds on
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
including
copepods,
krill
Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
,
chaetognaths,
jellyfish
Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...
,
fish eggs,
Christmas Island red crab larvae and small
nektonic life, such as small
squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
or
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
(
sardine
Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...
s,
anchovies,
mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
s and small
tuna
A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...
s).
It also feeds on clouds of eggs during mass spawning of fish and corals.
[ In addition, they have been found to ingest and partially digest ]Sargassum
''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown macroalgae ( seaweed) in the order Fucales of the Phaeophyceae class. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and ...
, thus making them omnivores. The many rows of vestigial teeth play no role in feeding. Feeding occurs either by ram filtration, in which the animal opens its mouth and swims forward, pushing water and food into the mouth, or by active suction feeding, in which the animal opens and closes its mouth, sucking in volumes of water that are then expelled through the gills. In both cases, the filter pads serve to separate food from water. These unique, black sieve-like structures are presumed to be modified gill rakers. Food separation in whale sharks is by cross-flow filtration, in which the water travels nearly parallel to the filter pad surface, not perpendicularly through it, before passing to the outside, while denser food particles continue to the back of the throat. This is an extremely efficient filtration method that minimizes fouling of the filter pad surface. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing", presumably to clear a build-up of particles from the filter pads. Whale sharks migrate to feed and possibly to breed.
The whale shark is an active feeder, targeting concentrations of plankton or fish. It is able to ram filter feed or can gulp in a stationary position. This is in contrast to the passive feeding basking shark, which does not pump water. Instead, it swims to force water across its gills.
A juvenile whale shark is estimated to eat 21 kg (46 pounds) of plankton per day.
The BBC program ''Planet Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...
'' filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish. The same documentary showed footage of a whale shark timing its arrival to coincide with the mass spawning of fish shoals and feeding on the resultant clouds of eggs and sperm.[''Jurassic Shark'' (2000) documentary by Jacinth O'Donnell; broadcast on ]Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience.
It init ...
, 5 August 2006
Due their mode of feeding, whale sharks are susceptible to the ingestion of microplastics
Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics a ...
. As such, the presence of microplastics in whale shark scat was recently confirmed.
Relationship with humans
Behavior toward divers
Despite its size, the whale shark does not pose any danger to humans. Younger whale sharks are gentle and can play with divers. Underwater photographers such as Fiona Ayerst have photographed them swimming close to humans without any danger.[Pictures of the Day: Tuesday, Aug. 04, 2009](_blank)
''Time magazine'', "A 40-foot whale shark and a brave snorkeler swim off the South African coast." Although whale sharks are docile fish, touching or riding the sharks is strictly forbidden and fineable in most countries, as it can cause serious harm to the animal.
The shark is seen by divers in many places, including the Bay Islands in Honduras, Thailand, Indonesia ( Bone Bolango, Cendrawasih Bay), the Philippines, the Maldives close to Maamigili (South Ari Atoll), the Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, Western Australia (Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
, Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...
), Taiwan, Panama ( Coiba Island), Belize, Tofo Beach in Mozambique, Sodwana Bay ( Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) in South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Saint Helena
Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory.
Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
, Isla Mujeres (Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
), La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur, with a 2020 census population of 250,141 inhabitants, making it the most populous city in the state. La Paz City is located in La ...
and Bahía de los Ángeles in Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, the Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
, West Malaysia, islands off eastern peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
, Fujairah
Fujairah City () is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Em ...
, Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, and other parts of the Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. Juveniles can be found near the shore in the Gulf of Tadjoura, near Djibouti
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
, in the Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
.
Conservation status
Estimating the exact number of whale sharks globally is challenging due to their migratory nature and the vastness of their habitat. Current estimates suggest that approximately 130,000 to 200,000 whale sharks inhabit the world's oceans. However, these numbers are declining. Over the past 75 years, the global whale shark population has decreased by about 50%, with declines of approximately 63% in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and over 30% in the Atlantic Ocean. This decline is attributed to threats such as fishing bycatch, vessel strikes, and pollution. Consequently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the whale shark as an endangered species. In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the whale shark as "Migrant" with the qualifier "Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...
.
It is listed, along with six other species of sharks, under the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks. In 1998, the Philippines banned all fishing, selling, importing, and exporting of whale sharks for commercial purposes, followed by India in May 2001 and Taiwan in May 2007.
In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill resulted in of oil flowing into an area south of the Mississippi River Delta, where one-third of all whale shark sightings in the northern part of the gulf have occurred in recent years. Sightings confirmed that the whale sharks were unable to avoid the oil slick, which was situated on the surface of the sea where the whale sharks feed for several hours at a time. No dead whale sharks were found.
This species was also added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES
CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...
) in 2003 to regulate the international trade of live specimens and its parts.
It was reported in 2014 that hundreds of whale sharks were illegally killed every year in China for their fins, skins, and oil.
In captivity
The whale shark is popular in the few public aquarium
A public aquarium () or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and aquatic plant, plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, ...
s that keep it, but its large size means that a very large tank is required and it has specialized feeding requirements. Their large size and iconic status have also fueled an opposition to keeping the species in captivity, especially after the early death of some whale sharks in captivity and certain Chinese aquariums keeping the species in relatively small tanks.
The first attempt at keeping whale sharks in captivity was in 1934 when an individual was kept for about four months in a netted-off natural bay in Izu, Japan. The first attempt of keeping whale sharks in an aquarium was initiated in 1980 by the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (then known as Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium) in Japan.[ Since 1980, several have been kept at Okinawa, mostly obtained from incidental catches in coastal nets set by fishers (none after 2009), but two were strandings. Several of these were already weak from the capture/stranding and some were released,][ but initial captive survival rates were low.][ After the initial difficulties in maintaining the species had been resolved, some have survived long-term in captivity.][ The record for a whale shark in captivity is an individual that, as of 2021, has lived for more than 26 years in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium from Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium.][ Following Okinawa, Osaka Aquarium started keeping whale sharks and most of the basic research on the keeping of the species was made at these two institutions.]
Since the mid-1990s, several other aquariums have kept the species in Japan ( Kagoshima Aquarium, Kinosaki Marine World, Notojima Aquarium, Oita Marine Palace Aquarium, and Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise), South Korea ( Aqua Planet Jeju), China (Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is a theme park situated in Hengqin, Zhuhai, People's Republic of China. It was designed by PGAV Destinations. The park broke ground on 28 November 2010 and soft-opened on 28 January 2014. The grand opening occurred on 2 ...
, Dalian
Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
Aquarium, Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
Aquarium in Guangzhou Zoo, Qingdao
Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
Polar Ocean World and Yantai Aquarium), Taiwan ( National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium), India (Thiruvananthapuram Aquarium) and Dubai ( Atlantis, The Palm), with some maintaining whale sharks for years and others only for a very short period.[ The whale shark kept at Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm was rescued from shallow waters in 2008 with extensive abrasions to the fins and after rehabilitation it was released in 2010, having lived 19 months in captivity.] Marine Life Park in Singapore had planned on keeping whale sharks but scrapped this idea in 2009.
Outside Asia, the first and so far only place to keep whale sharks is Georgia Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The aquarium exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than of water. It was the larges ...
in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, United States.[ This is unusual because of the comparatively long transport time and complex logistics required to bring the sharks to the aquarium, ranging between 28 and 36 hours.][ Georgia keeps two whale sharks: two males, Taroko and Yushan, who both arrived in 2007. Two earlier males at Georgia Aquarium, Ralph and Norton, both died in 2007.][ Trixie died in 2020. Alice died in 2021. Georgia's whale sharks were all imported from Taiwan and were taken from the commercial fishing quota for the species, usually used locally for food.] Taiwan closed this fishery entirely in 2008.[
]
Human culture
In Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, whale sharks are called in Malagasy, meaning "many stars", after the appearance of the markings on the shark's back.
In the Philippines, it is called and . The whale shark is featured on the reverse of the Philippine 100-peso bill. By law snorkelers must maintain a distance of from the sharks and there is a fine and possible prison sentence for anyone who touches the animals.
Whale sharks are also known as in Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
(because the markings resemble patterns typically seen on ); (roughly "star from the East") in Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
; and (literally "sir fish") in Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
The whale shark is also featured on the latest 2015–2017 edition of the Maldivian 1000 rufiyaa banknote, along with the green turtle.
Whale Shark Experts
* Simon J Pierce
* Alistair Dove
See also
* List of sharks
* List of threatened sharks
*
References
Further reading
*
FAO web page on Whale shark
*
External links
Whale Shark Photograph-identification Library
Whale Shark And Oceanic Research Center
Maldives Whale Shark Research Program
Whale Sharks: Gentle Giants of the Seas
Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna
*
Whale Shark Fact Sheet, Fisheries Western Australia
Albino whale shark photographed in Galapagos
Photographs National Geographic
A whale shark recorded defecating
*
{{Good article
Ovoviviparous fish
Pantropical fish
whale shark
The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...
Fish of North America
Fish of Central America
Fish of Australia
Fish of Asia
Fish of Africa
Extant Oligocene first appearances
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist)
Symbols of Western Australia