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The Whale Shark |
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Beautiful, powerful, magnificent and most of all simply
immense. This is the whale shark. The sheer size of this creature, coupled
with the fact that it eats only plankton, has lead us to be completely
fascinated by it. Wanting only to encounter it where ever possible, many
people wait years for the opportunity to interact with this fish. |
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Individual
members of the species have been known to be 60 feet long, but 32 feet is
more common for an adult whale shark. Whale sharks are darker in color than
many other sharks, with a gray to blue back and a white belly. |
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These sharks
also have unique patterns of spots and lines on their backs and sides. Whale
sharks have huge heads that are broad and flat, and end in a giant mouth.
Despite their appearance, these sharks are docile and harmless. |
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Whale sharks
are suction feeders. They have long gill rakers which they use to suck
plankton, tiny crustaceans, and small fish into their mouths. The small
teeth that line their mouths are used only to hold food inside and keep it
from swimming away. |
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a whale shark finds a school of small fish, it feeds by bobbing up and down,
filling its mouth each time it passes through the school. |
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The whale
shark lives in tropical and warm temperate waters like in the Indian Ocean.
Usually, these gentle fish can be found swimming slowly near the surface,
looking for food. |
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Because of
their huge size, whale sharks are homes to other animals - jacks and pilot
fish live on whale sharks, like a reef. |
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Like most sharks
the reproductive habits of the whale shark are obscure. It was believed to
by oviparous based on a single egg recovered off Mexico in 1956, but the
capture of a pregnant female in 1995 containing 300 young indicates that
they are viviparous with ovoviviparous development - the eggs remain in the
body and the females give birth to live 40-60 cm young. |
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It is believed
that they reach sexual maturity at around 30 years and the life span has
been variously estimated at 60 to 150 years. |
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The whale sharks are here at Kenya’s Southcoast all year
round, but we see them in their largest numbers from October through to
March. |
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Come and join these
beautiful experiences with Diving The Crab |
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Further
information, rates and booking possibilities:
info@kenya-southcoast.com |
