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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.
279 Questions
Which is bigger a whale shark or Greenland Shark?
No the biggest a Greenland shark grows 5 meters where as a great white can grow 6 meters in length
Why are whale sharks considered to be sharks and not whale?
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?
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?
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?
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.....
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?
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.
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?
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.
What gives a whale shark its yellowish skin?
Extraction from the animal, leaving the liquid oil, of a clear yellow color.
What do whale sharks use to filter food from water?
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?
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?
in order to get the bends you have to be breathing compressed gasses, like from a SCUBA. tank or a deep sea diving compressor
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?
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?
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.
What year did whale shark become endangered?
They are endangered , but studies are underway, monitoring the population and the hunting of them.
How big does a whale sharks grow?
Whale sharks are the largest fish in the oceans. They are known as gentle giants because they are filter feeders. The average size for a full grown whale shark is 32.8 ft. 20.6 tons.
The largest specimen regarded as accurately recorded was caught on November 11, 1947, near the island of Baba, not far from Karachi, Pakistan. It was 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) long, weighed more than 21.5 tons (47,300 lb), and had a girth of 7 metres (23.0 ft).
Stories exist of vastly larger specimens-quoted lengths of 18 metres (59 ft) are not uncommon in the popular shark literature-but no scientific records exist to support their existence. In 1868 the Irish natural scientist E. Perceval Wright spent time in the Seychelles, during which he managed to obtain several small whale shark specimens, but claimed to have observed specimens in excess of 15 metres (49.2 ft), and tells of reports of specimens surpassing 21 metres (68.9 ft).
In a 1925 publication, Hugh M. Smith describes a huge whale shark caught in a bamboo fish trap in Thailand in 1919. The shark was too heavy to pull ashore, but Smith estimated that the shark was at least 17 metres (56 ft) long, and weighed approximately 37 tons (81,500 lb), which have been exaggerated to an accurate measurement of 17.98 metres (58.99 ft) and weight 43 tonnes in recent years. There have even been claims of whale sharks of up to 23 metres (75 ft). In 1934 a ship named the Maurguani came across a whale shark in the Southern Pacific ocean, rammed it, and the shark consequently became stuck on the prow of the ship, supposedly with 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) on one side and 12.2 metres (40.0 ft) on the other. No reliable documentation exists of those claims and they remain little more than "fish-stories".
The largest specimen regarded as accurately recorded was caught on November 11, 1947, near the island of Baba, not far from Karachi, Pakistan. It was 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) long, weighed more than 21.5 tons (47,300 lb), and had a girth of 7 metres (23.0 ft).
Stories exist of vastly larger specimens-quoted lengths of 18 metres (59 ft) are not uncommon in the popular shark literature-but no scientific records exist to support their existence. In 1868 the Irish natural scientist E. Perceval Wright spent time in the Seychelles, during which he managed to obtain several small whale shark specimens, but claimed to have observed specimens in excess of 15 metres (49.2 ft), and tells of reports of specimens surpassing 21 metres (68.9 ft).
In a 1925 publication, Hugh M. Smith describes a huge whale shark caught in a bamboo fish trap in Thailand in 1919. The shark was too heavy to pull ashore, but Smith estimated that the shark was at least 17 metres (56 ft) long, and weighed approximately 37 tons (81,500 lb), which have been exaggerated to an accurate measurement of 17.98 metres (58.99 ft) and weight 43 tonnes in recent years. There have even been claims of whale sharks of up to 23 metres (75 ft). In 1934 a ship named the Maurguani came across a whale shark in the Southern Pacific ocean, rammed it, and the shark consequently became stuck on the prow of the ship, supposedly with 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) on one side and 12.2 metres (40.0 ft) on the other. No reliable documentation exists of those claims and they remain little more than "fish-stories".
The largest whale shark ever found was 41.5 ft and weighed 47000 lbs. So they can get to pretty large sizes.
Most whale sharks average to about 25 ft. long. But that is only the average length because the whale shark is the largest and longest fish in the world. Some squids are longer because that is only the average length. I'd say the longest whale shark in the world is approx. 45-59 ft. An average whale shark weighs about 15 tons=30,000 lbs.
The average whale shark is 25 feet but the largest recorded size is 46 feet.
The whale shark averagesabout 25 ft. but there have been whale sharks found that where 46 ft. long The whale shark averagesabout 25 ft. but there have been whale sharks found that where 46 ft. long The largest confirmed was 41 feet.
How long does a whale shark sleep?
whale sharks don't actually sleep like humans do. whale sharks like most fish just rest.
Is the whale shark the fastest swimmer?
No it is not, but it is however the largest fish in the sea. It is still considered a shark even though its large size and therefor a fish. Whales are a completely different species and not considered a fish. Now the fastest shark is the short fin Mako, clocked at only 32 mph, but has been said to swim at speeds of over 60 mph. The fastest marine animal would be the Sailfish, but again in is only clocked at 68 mph. It could in fact go much faster than that.
Does a whale shark breathe from oxygen?
Like all sharks ( like fish), whale sharks breathe through gills which extract oxygen from the water.
