The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea. At average he has a length of around 8 meters; but there are also individuals seen with a length of 15 meters. The head of the whale shark is flat and wide. Different to other species of sharks the mouth is not located at the bottom of the head but in front; and it is as wide as the whole head.
Characteristic for the whale shark are the spots at the body of the animal. The top and side of its body is almost fully covered with these spots. At first sight the spots seem to be situated at random; but research has proven that the spots are different at each animal. In particular the spots next to the gills is used to identify the animals.
Whale sharks are not efficient swimmers. It needs its whole body to swim and can only reach a speed of around 5 km/hour. During feeding the whale shark swims with its mouth wide open through the water. They take a big mouthful of water which is moved out of its mouth through the gills; before the water leaves through the gills the food is filtered out of the water. It is surprising how big you can grow with filter feeding.
