Whale shark

(Rhincodon typus)

Diet

Feeds on plankton and nekton, such as schooling fishes, small crustaceans, squid and fish eggs.

Habitat

A pelagic species with a widespread distribution in all tropical and warm temperate seas, excluding the Mediterranean.

Fin-tastic facts

The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean reaching lengths of up to 18 meters, yet they feed on some of the tiniest creatures. They can travel immense distances around the globe in order to exploit rich food patches. In an average year a shark could travel over 10,000km in its constant search for food. Off the Yucatan Peninsula a huge spawning event occurs when the little tunny, a common tuna species, releases billions of fish eggs into the water. This attracts the largest gathering of whale sharks in the world, an event dubbed “afuera”. Hundreds of whale sharks can be seen feeding on this rich fish egg soup, filtering through tens of thousands of gallons of water every hour. Whale sharks have learnt to take advantage of this glut of food, but it’s not the only place they’ve learned to exploit an easy food source. Some whale sharks in the Philippines have learnt they can get an easy meal by sucking fish out of fishermen’s nets!