Whale sharks are quite simply enormous and are the largest fish species currently in existence. They are a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest ever confirmed was measured at 12.65 metres in length and weighing in at more than 21.5 tonnes, although it is thought that there are even larger ones patrolling the oceans.
You can find whale sharks in warm and tropical oceans and live for around 70 years. Although they were thought to feed mainly on plankton the BBC program Planet Earth caught a shark feeding on a school of small fish. Their anatomy has evolved to allow them to be very effective when they are feeding and their large mouths which can be up to 1.5 metres wide allow them to collect and filter their food.
Considering their size you would think whale sharks would pose some sort of danger to humans, however in reality they are docile fish and are not violent. Some divers have even suggested that the juveniles can be playful while they are in the water with them. One area where the sighting of a whale shark is reasonably common is in the Maldives, where a large conservation project of the coral reef includes the monitoring of whale sharks.
In 1997 the government in the Maldives produced a report which said that there was to be more research into the conservation of the coral reefs and the fish and other invertebrates living in and around it so that it could remain in the pristine condition you currently find it. For this reason there are many conservation projects currently in place across the archipelago and whale sharks are one of their main subjects. The scientists and volunteers involved in the projects will spend some time recording their location so that their journeys can be mapped so the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme can make decisions as to their conservation and protection mechanisms. In the Maldives the conservationists do not tag the sharks but instead use scientists and volunteers on conservation projects to track them by taking photos of the shark's gills. Interestingly, like a human's fingerprints their gills are completely unique meaning that on collection of photos and location data the scheme is able to track where the sharks have travelled - rather clever.
The whale shark is currently targeted by many commercial fisheries, the overall population of this particular fish is unknown and along with 6 other species of shark it is considered as vulnerable. Although they continue to be hunted in many areas for commercial purposes, the fishing, selling, importing and exporting of the species has been banned in the Philippines, India and Taiwan. With more conservation wildlife projects taking place, hopefully eventually the population will be recorded, allowing there to be some more hard facts on the future of the whale shark.
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