Distribution Whale Shark | whale shark feeding

Distribution Whale Shark | whale shark feeding

Distribution and habitat

 

The whale shark inhabits every tropical and warm-temperate waters. The fish is generally pelagic, living in the available sea but not in the higher depths of the ocean, though it is known to occasionally dive to depths of as much as one particular, 800 metres (5, nine hundred ft).|17| Periodic feeding aggregations occur by several coastal sites including the southern and eastern portions of South Africa; Saint Helena Area in the South Atlantic Ocean; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, Gladden Spit in Belize; Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia; Kerala|18|, Lakshadweep, Gulf of Kutch and Saurashtra coast of Gujarat in India;|19| Útila in Honduras; Southern Leyte; Donsol, Pasacao and Batangas in the Korea; off Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox in Yucatan and Bahía de los Ángeles in Baja California, México; Maamigili island, Maldives; Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia; Cenderawasih Bay Country wide Park in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia; Flores Island, Dalam negri; Nosy Be in Madagascar; away Tofo Beach near Inhambane in Mozambique; the Tanzanian islands of Mafia, Pemba, Zanzibar; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, the Advertisement Dimaniyat Islands in the Gulf of mexico of Oman and Al Hallaniyat islands in the Arabian Sea; and, very rarely, Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, The nike jordan. Although typically seen overseas, it has been found closer to area, entering lagoons or coral atolls, and near the mouths of estuaries and waters. Its range is generally limited to about 30° latitude. It can be capable of diving to depths of at least 1, 286 m (4, 219 ft),|20| and is migratory.|9| On 7 February 2012, a large whale shark was found floating 150 kms (93 mi) off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. The length of the specimen was said to be between 11 and doze m (36 and 39 ft), with a weight of around 15, 000 kilogram (33, 000 lb).|21|

 

 

In 2011, more than 400 whale sharks gathered off the Yucatan Coast. It was one of the largest gatherings of whale sharks recorded.|22| Aggregations in that area are one of the most reliable seasonal gatherings known for whale sharks, with good sized quantities occurring in most years between May and September. Affiliated ecotourism has grown rapidly to unsustainable levels.|23|

Not mating nor pupping of whale sharks has been seen.

 

The capture of a feminine in July 1996 that was pregnant with three hundred pups indicated whale fishes are ovoviviparous.|9||24||25| The ovum remain in the body and the females give birth to live adolescent which are 40 to 62 cm (16 to 24 in) long. Evidence shows the pups are not every born at once, but rather the feminine retains sperm from one mating and produces a steady stream of pups over a extended period.|26| That they reach sexual maturity for around 30 years and their lifetime is an estimated 70|9| to 100 years.|27|

 

On 7 March 2009, marine scientists in the Israel discovered what is believed to be the tiniest living specimen of the whale shark. The young shark, measuring only 38 centimeter (15 in), was discovered with its tail tied to a stake at a seaside in Pilar, Sorsogon, Philippines, and was released into the outdoors. Based on this discovery, a few scientists no longer believe this place is just a feeding ground; this website may be a birthing place, as well. Both young whale sharks and pregnant females have been seen in the oceans of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, wherever numerous whale sharks can be spotted during the summer.

The whale shark is a filtration system feeder - one of just three known filter-feeding shark species (along with the basking shark and the megamouth shark). It feeds on plankton including copepods, krill, fish eggs, Christmas Island reddish crab larvae |30| and small nektonic life, such as small squid or fish. It also nourishes on clouds of ovum during mass spawning of fish and corals.|31| The many rows of vestigial teeth play no position in feeding. Feeding arises either by ram filtering, in which the animal opens the mouth and swims onward, pushing water and foodstuff into the mouth, or by effective suction feeding, in which the canine opens and closes its mouth, sucking in amounts of water that are then simply expelled through the gills. In both cases, the filtration pads serve to separate meals from water. These unique, black sieve-like structures are presumed to be modified gill rakers. Food separation in whale sharks is by cross-flow filtration, in which the water trips nearly parallel to the filtration pad surface, not perpendicularly through it, before driving to the outside, while denser food particles continue to the back of the throat.|32| That is an extremely efficient filtration method that minimizes fouling on the filter pad surface. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing", presumably to clear a build-up of particles from the filtration pads. Whale sharks migrate to feed and possibly to breed.

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