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Whale Sharks

The largest living species of shark, these gentle giants feed on plankton and can be found all over the world.

500 Questions

Why are whale sharks dangerous to people?

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Asked by Wiki User

Whale sharks are not generally dangerous to human beings; in fact, they are friendly and occasionally even give rides to divers.

But whale Sharks are still big and strong animals. Like any big and strong animal they could do some damage if they decided to.

Do whale sharks have scales?

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Asked by Wiki User

Whales are mammals and have never had scales, so no. Killer whale, dolphin, porpoise, and sperm whale teeth are modified bones in their skull and jaw, just like ours. Baleen whales, like humpback and blue whales, have large carotene plates growing out of their jaws instead of regular teeth.

What is the classification of the whale shark?

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Asked by Wiki User

The Sperm Whale is a marine mammal, of the order Cetacea, and family: Physeteridae.

What ocean do whale sharks live?

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Asked by Wiki User

There a five known species

Sixgill, lives in deeper water of south east Africa

Longnose, off most of Australia in deep water, bays and estuaries

Japanese, off the coast of China out past japan and down about as far as northern Phillipines

Shortnose, off southern Australia deep water at about 300 metres

American, off the warmer US east coast and around the Bahamas in deep water

Then there are sawfish which live in southern hemisphere tropics with two freshwater species found in northern Australian rivers

How long are whale shark tteeth?

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Asked by Wiki User

whale sharks have very small teeth and sharp. Whale sharks only eat tiny fish.

Does a whale shark mate?

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Asked by Wiki User

Yes it does. Just like any other animal the Whale Shark depends on mating for the species to continue to exist.

Which is bigger a whale shark or Greenland Shark?

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Asked by Wiki User

No the biggest a Greenland shark grows 5 meters where as a great white can grow 6 meters in length

Is a whale shark an invertebrate or vertebrate?

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Asked by Wiki User

All sharks are vertebrates.

Why are whale sharks considered to be sharks and not whale?

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Asked by Wiki User

Dolphins are warm blooded mammals that give birth to live young. The shark is a cartilaginous (no spinal bones) fish that either lay eggs or hatch eggs internally. The egg cases of sharks are known as a 'mermaids purse'.

What is the difference between male and female whale sharks?

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Asked by Wiki User

Male and Female blue whales are both very similar in color and apperance, however the average size of a male blue whale is 70-90 ft lenthwise, while on the other hand, the female blue whale has an average length of 80-100 ft.

Why are whale shark called whale shark?

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Asked by Wiki User

they are called sand sharks specifically because they are camouflaged with sand and hunt on the seafloor and hide by digging slightly in the sand and not moving at all.

How big can whale shark open it's mouth?

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Asked by Wiki User

I have seen this erroneously answered at a few inches which is false. The whale shark has the ability is constrict the esophagus to keep water out and hold food in the stomach. Water is pushed into the huge mouth at great force and then forced through tubes out of the gill flaps allowing the massive amounts of food to be swallowed. Depending on the size and age of the fish it can vary. The notion that the esophagus is to small to swallow large amounts is false. This article shows that huge volumes of food are swallowed with each mouth full. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/pdfs/Sharkfeedingpaper.pdf this site tells you all you need to know about the whale shark esophagus, mouth size, and how much it can swallow.

Anatomical measurements indicated maximum internal mouth

width was 12.0% (N = 8), and mouth height 6.3% (N = 10) of TL, and

the open mouth width to height ratio was 1.9 (N = 10). Internasal

width was 10.0% of TL (N = 11), and vertical mouth height/internasal

width was 0.61 (N = 11). Based on open mouth internal heights, the

estimated total open mouth area was 2035 cm2

for shark A (622 cm

TL), 1841 cm2

for shark B (593 cm TL), and 1079 cm2

for shark C (443 cm TL) (N = 4 frontal pictures of feeding sharks).whale shark swimming at 1.1 m/s.

The biomass ingested was estimated by calculating the volume

of water passing through the partially submerged mouth per unit time multiplied by the mean biomass of plankton per unit volume. With an average of 84.7% of the open mouth underwater during

surface ram filter feeding, a 443 cm TL shark would present an open

mouth area of ∼914 cm2

(84.7% of 1079) and a 622 cm TL shark

an open mouth area of ∼1724 cm2

(84.7% of 2035) to the water.

With a flow velocity at the mouth of 0.99 m/s (90.4% of 1.1 m/s) the

smaller shark would filter 0.0914 m2

× 0.99 m/s or 0.0905 m3

/s of

water = 326 m3

/h, and the larger shark would filter 614 m3

/h. With

an average plankton biomass of 4.5 g/m3

at the feeding sites, the

sharks would, on average, ingest 1467 and 2763 g of plankton per

hour, respectively, and for an average feeding time of 7.5 h per day,

a total of 11,003 and 20,723 g of plankton/day, which at 1.357 kJ/g equates to 14,931 and 28,121 kJ per day, respectively.....

Do whale sharks eat herring?

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Asked by Wiki User

They eat small fish in schools and zooplankton so they do depending on the species. Fin whales, humpback whales, Bryde's whales and sei whales all eat small fish.

What is bigger a megalodon shark or a whale shark?

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Asked by Wiki User

The prehistoric Megalodon shark, extinct over a million years ago, was found to reach over 52 feet in fossil records.

The Whale shark, largest living fish in the ocean today, can reach over 40 feet in length.

Is the whale shark dangerous?

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Asked by Wiki User

No, whale sharks feed mostly on shrimp and krill two of the smallest animals in the ocean they are no threat to humans just to krill and shrimp

Where do whale sharks come from?

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Asked by Wiki User

bull sharks come from a native plant called the bull shark weed. ussualy the just pop outa the groung and then grow tenticles and crawl to the ocean and swim away. and then breed with bull shark weeds every ten years or so. and the prosses starts over. they mostly eat kids.

Is a whale shark big as 6 school bus?

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Asked by Wiki User

yes they are huge

What gives a whale shark its yellowish skin?

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Asked by Makeda Fludd

Extraction from the animal, leaving the liquid oil, of a clear yellow color.

What size is a baby whale shark?

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Asked by Wiki User

large sharks

What do whale sharks use to filter food from water?

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Asked by Wiki User

Baleen, flat, flexible plates with frayed edges, arranged in two rows, looking like combs with thick hair at the end of each comb tooth. Baleen is not in fact composed of bone, but of the protein keratin, the same substance as hair, horns, scales, claws and nails. Baleen whales use these combs for filter-feeding.

Does the whale shark have enemies?

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Asked by Wiki User

Orcas.

Once, a shark was drawn by the smell of blood to a dead seal. The seal had been killed by an orca. When the orca saw the shark, it attacked it. It caught the shark in its jaws, and within seconds the shark was dead.

Soon after the incident, all sharks in the surrounding area disappeared!

However, sharks and orcas usually avoid each other.

Do whale sharks get the bends?

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Asked by Wiki User

in order to get the bends you have to be breathing compressed gasses, like from a SCUBA. tank or a deep sea diving compressor

Do whale sharks drink?

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Asked by Wiki User

no they do not drink water they live in the ocean which means they live off of prey that they kill and then eat they have blow holes that aloow them to stay hydrated.....

Can whale sharks jump out of the water?

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Asked by Wiki User

Probably, a close relative, the basking shark, can.

They can't because they are too big. They are the worlds biggest fish.

How many whale sharks are left?

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Asked by Wiki User

There are 100,000 to 200,000 whale sharks left in the wild.

Go to WWF for more information!
There are thousands of whale sharks in the world. Many of these whale sharks are located in the wild oceans.