It's no secret that the great whale shark in the ranking of the largest marine inhabitants occupies an honorable first place. Indeed, the largest fish in the world deserves to be in the first positions of such a rating, because it can reach enormous sizes. On average, there are representatives of this species about twelve meters long, and their weight reaches a mark of fifteen tons. Truly, the largest fish in the world is found among whale sharks and weighs about 36 tons with a body length of more than 20 meters.
Truly, due to its appearance, the whale shark is like a monster. Its flat muzzle with small eyes placed on it, a huge mouth, in which there are several rows of very sharp, small teeth, can inspire fear and horror. At the same time, the largest fish in the world, if we examine it completely, has short setae similar to antennae, and the dark gray color of the skin sometimes acquires additional age spots, which makes it quite beautiful. The combination of bright spots with yellowish abstract stripes on a brown-gray background attracts the eye and makes you admire the abilities of nature to create beauty.
For quite some time, whale sharks existed only in the stories of various sailors who traveled mainly through the tropical expanses of the sea. But since the beginning of the 19th century, off the coast of South Africa, strangely enough in the cold waters, fishermen first managed to catch a huge fish, which turned out to be a whale shark. Since then, to study the lives of these marine representatives and monitor their behavior, scientists have tried to deliver sharks to research institutions. True, they managed to do this infrequently, only about a hundred times, since due to the enormous size, transportation was much more difficult.
The largest fish in the world is most often found in the warm waters of the tropical or subtropical zones of the Earth. Nevertheless, there are cases when a whale shark was seen in the cold waters of the northern seas, as well as in the western waters of the Mediterranean Sea. In winter, the vital activity of these marine giants is significantly reduced, in most cases they fall into hibernation. Since this usually occurs in surface waters, often various vessels collide with them. During hibernation, the largest fish in the world feeds on its own body fat.
Strange as it may seem, a whale shark eats only plankton. She swims through the expanses of water with an open mouth, simultaneously sucking everything that comes across to her with water. It can be small fish, tiny crustaceans, and algae with leftover food from ships. Everything that enters the shark’s mouth is filtered through interlocked rows of small teeth, and the water passes through the gills located near the eyes. The stamens that are in the structure of the gills retain any particles that are suitable as food.
The largest fish on Earth is quite peaceful. She almost never attacks the large inhabitants of the sea, as well as divers. A whale shark can allow a person to get close enough. Taking advantage of this, experienced and courageous scuba divers swim to it in order to shoot on a video camera or capture on a photo. Some, the most daring, even managed to play astride this fish. The danger is not at all the jaws of this huge marine beauty, but a collision with her. Not everyone is able to withstand the powerful blows of her tail or body.
Hunting a whale shark in many countries is prohibited due to its extinction as a species. However, unfortunately, there are places to which such taboos do not apply. For this reason, large whale sharks are still on the verge of extinction.