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Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus) are known to be the largest fish in the world with some individuals measuring 18m (60 feet) long and weighing around 40 tons. Despite their tremendous size, they are gentle giants, using their nearly 1.5m-wide (5-foot) mouths to filter plankton out of large volumes of water as they swim. They have over 300 rows of tiny teeth and 20 filter pads that look like individual steel wool scrubbers. They open their mouths to let in the plankton-filled, ocean water utilizing a cross-flow filtration method, which keeps the plankton moving towards the back of the mouth. This concentrates the food near the throat without clogging the filtration system, allowing the shark to continuously feed. It is estimated that a 6.2m (20.4 ft.) whale shark may be able to ingest 2.7 kg (6 pounds) of plankton per hour at feeding sites (Motta et al. 2010).

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Whale Sharks are believed to be highly migratory (often on the move) and are found in all of the worlds’ oceans in tropical and warm temperate waters (generally between 30°N and 35°S). Individuals are generally solitary but are known to gather in large groups for feeding in coastal waters in places such as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the Philippines and Western Australia.

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Whale Sharks have a blue-grey body and numerous

white/light-grey spots. Individuals have distinctive patterning

of these spots, which allow researchers to record and track

individuals throughout their lifetimes.