Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean. In Donsol, typical whale shark size is 4-12 meters. The largest whale shark on record anywhere in the world was 12.65 meters long, but reported sightings are up to 18 meters. They weigh up to 40 tons. Donsol is home to schools of these amazing creatures and they can be seen by divers and non-divers, swimmers and non swimmers, the old and the young alike.
They migrate to Donsol in vast numbers to take advantage of the dense food concentration of plankton and krill which is their main diet. Their mouths are up to 2 meters across containing over 300 rows filled with thousands of tiny teeth. But don't worry - whale sharks are only after the small stuff and filter feed plankton all day. The many rows of teeth play no role in feeding; in fact, they are reduced in size in the whale shark. Instead, the shark sucks in a mouthful of water, closes its mouth and expels the water through its gills.
With their distinctive patterned skins, each whale shark is unique and a global database has been made with over 2000 individual whale sharks identified.
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