White Shark

Whale Shark

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The Whale Shark

Biology:


Prefers coastal and pelagic waters. Often seen far offshore but sometimes comes close inshore and even enters atolls and lagoons. Can be found in schools or aggregations (up to hundreds!) as well as individually. Whale sharks apparently prefer areas where the surface temperature is 21 to 25 °C with cold upwelling water (around 17 °C) and a salinity of 34 to 34.5 ppt.

Reproduction

The Whale shark was long thought to be oviparous (an egg 14 inches (36 cm) long was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 1953; this would be the largest egg in the world). Recently, pregnant females have been found containing hundreds of pups, so, Whale sharks are viviparous, giving birth to live young. Newborns are over 2 feet (60 cm) long.
Whale sharks are sexually mature at 30 years old. This is the age at which they are able to mate and reproduce.