Tag Archives: shark

Is a Whale Shark a Shark?

whale shark

Whale sharks look quite different to how we imagine a shark to look. They are enormous, reaching 12 meters or more in length and weighing as much as 16 tons – basically, they are about the size of a bus! And they don’t have sharp teeth, in fact their teeth don’t really assist in feeding at all. So, it’s no surprise that people often ask us the question…is a whale shark a shark?

Are Whale Sharks Really Sharks?

The answer is yes, whale sharks really are sharks. They have all the 33 characteristics of a shark, such as a cartilage skeleton, five pairs of gills and unfused pectoral fins to the head. Unlike whales, they are not mammals and their young are not fed by the mother’s milk. Like sharks, whale sharks are fish. In fact they are the largest fish in the ocean. So, whale sharks really are sharks…and they get their name from the fact that they are enormous!

What Do Whale Sharks Eat? 

Whale sharks have rows of over 300 tiny teeth, but as filter feeders they do not use these teeth to eat. Instead, whale sharks (and other filter feeding sharks) swim along the ocean’s currents with their huge mouths open wide, filtering large quantities of water as they go and extracting tiny organisms called plankton & krill from the water. A whale shark’s mouth is about 1.5 meters wide, so it’s an impressive sight!

The 3 largest sharks include (in size order)

  1. Whale Shark 17 meters
  2. Basking Shark 15 m
  3. Megamouth Shark 7-8 m

All filter feeders!

Diet: Plankton (tiny organisms), krill and small fish

Ten Amazing Whale Shark Facts

  1. Largest fish and shark in the world
  2. Habitat: warm open waters of the tropical oceans 
  3. Whale sharks spend most of their time near the surface
  4. Lifespan: 70 to 100 years
  5. Average length of an adult: 9.7 meters
  6. Average weight: 9 tonnes
  7. Teeth: over 300 rows of tiny teeth – not used for eating!
  8. Whale sharks are solitary creatures
  9. Filter feeders – feeding mainly on plankton
  10. Able to process over 6,000 litres of water each hour

Why We Need Sharks

Learn more about sharks? 

online shark course

Check out our Amazing Sharks Online Shark Course

Check out our Shark Resources

 

 

Further reading…

Save Our Seas – Whale Sharks Down Under

 

Should We Protect Sharks?

 

Amazing sharks

We think so! We hear so many negative stories about sharks in the media but what role do they actually play in the ocean and why are they important to us?

The fact is that sharks are a crucial part of the food chain and help keep the oceans, planet (and us), healthy… and their numbers are dwindling fast.

Read on to discover why we need sharks and why we need to take action to protect these misunderstood creatures…

Sharks Get a Bad Press 

shark cullMany people fear sharks because of sensationalised stories in the media and scary films like Jaws.

The fact is that 100 million sharks are killed by humans each year and sharks kill around 12 humans a year.

So, maybe sharks should be scared of us, not the other way around?

Learn the Facts About Sharks

 

why we need sharks

 

We need to take time to learn the facts about sharks and why they are so important to us and our world, so that we can help protect them. So, we have developed a range of FREE shark resources and an online Amazing Sharks Course aimed at dispelling the myths and promoting the facts about these misunderstood creatures.

 

 

Here are some REAL FACTS about Sharks…

 

Sharks Help Create a Healthy Ecosystem

shark ecosystemSharks are APEX predators, which means they sit at the top of the food chain and help control the numbers of animals below them in that food chain. By controlling populations of large and mid-sized predators, sharks allow smaller fish to thrive, which has a knock on effect on the food chain below them. Therefore, sharks help create a healthy ecosystem with a diverse range of species and competitors.

 

 

Sharks Are a Keystone Species

Apex predators like sharks are known as keystone species. This means that they are crucially important. If you take sharks out of the food chain, the whole structure could collapse.

Sharks & Natural Selection

sharks & natural selection

Sharks play an important role in natural selection because they prey on and remove weak and sick animals. This reduces the chances of them reproducing and helps keep fish populations healthy and strong.

 

 

Sharks & Habitat Loss

reef sharkSharks help prevent habitat loss. Habitats like coral reef depend on their fishy caretakers, like the little reef fish that live on them and clean and protect them from disease. Without sharks controlling numbers of big fish in a marine ecosystem, the numbers of these fish could explode. They would in turn kill off the smaller fish. If that happens, the reef would become diseased and die off, affecting millions of animals that depend on it for survival.

 

 

Everything On Earth is Connected

blue planet earthThe earth’s ocean produces 70 % of the oxygen we breath, food to eat, controls the climate, breaks down pollution, provides us with medicine and much, much more.

Humans are part of our amazing planet’s ecosystem. So, it is in our best interest to protect our home environment and everything within it…including sharks.

 

Want to Know more?

Watch our video: Why We Need Sharks

Read Our Blog: How to Engage Kids with Sharks

 

How You Can Help Protect Sharks

Check out Ocean Life Education’s other blogs:

How to Inspire Kids to Protect the Ocean

Reasons Why We Depend on Our Oceans

How Can I Protect the Ocean

 

shark cullCheck out the latest film ‘Shark Cull’ for some interesting views about shark safety programs off Australia’s East Coast 

 

 

 

 

Whale Shark Fast Facts

Whale sharks are truly amazing creatures. Check out our whale shark fast facts to learn some jaw-dropping facts about them…

Ten Amazing Facts About Whale Sharks

  1. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish and shark in the world
  2. The whale shark is found in warm open waters of the tropical oceans 
  3. The lifespan of the whale shark ranges from 70 to 100 years
  4. The whale shark is also the largest non-cetacean animal in the world
  5. The average length of an adult whale sharks is 9.7 meters and they weigh on average 9 tonnes
  6. Whale sharks have over 300 rows of tiny teeth – not used for eating!
  7. Whale sharks are solitary creatures
  8. Whale sharks spend most of their time near the surface
  9. The whale shark is a filter feeder, feeding mainly on plankton
  10. Whale sharks can process over 6,000 litres (1,500 gallons) of water each hour

Want to know more about sharks? 

online shark course

Check out our Amazing Sharks Online Shark Course

Check out our Shark Resources

 

 

Further reading…

Save Our Seas – Whale Sharks Down Under