Whale Sharks Fun Fact

So today we are talking not about the whales we are used to see here in Terra Azul but about whale sharks!

 

Here we can see the clouration pattern

 

This shark is the largest fish in the world reaching 14 m long, it’s body is fusiform and with a very special coloration being this dark with white spots all over the body and it’s used for photoidentification, white vertical and horizontal stripes and ridges along the upper side of the body. It also have a flat head and a big mouth.

 

Whale Shark foraging

 

The whale shark feeds by filtration, they forage near the surface for crustacean plankton, small fishes like sardines and large ones like the mackerel.

We can find these animals in open sea and sometimes near shore too. The reproduction is not well known although it is believed that the females give birth to a fully formed live young with about 60 cm long.

These sharks do not present any type of danger towards humans, there are divers who approach them and they don’t do anything.

© Comstock Images/Jupiterimages

Vanessa Costa

About Vanessa Costa

Vanessa is Marine Biologist and Marine Wildlife Guide and is responsible for Environmental Conservation at TERRA AZUL. She enjoys being out in the ocean with Wildlife accompanying visitors and collecting field imagery and data for local Cetaceans and Sea Turtles Research & Conservation projects.

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