THE WHALE SHARK	RESEARCH QUESTION
	How do animals survive in different conditions, how are they adapted to their habitat? Photo Credit: Isla Marisol Resort https://islamarisolresort.com/whale-sharks-belize/

General Information:

SCIENTIFIC name:	TYPE:	DIET:	GROUP	LIFESPAN	SIZE(metric)
Rhincodon typus	Fish	krill	Gam, herd, frenzy, school or shiver.	70 years	5.5-10 m

 

Habitat / What is their environment like.

• they live in tropical seas.
• migrate every spring to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia.
• spawn near the Ningaloo Reef because their is an abundant supply of plankton.

Diet krill, plankton, fish eggs, tiny fish

scoop  tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish

• use their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water’s surface.

How many are their? Are they endangered?

• listed as a vulnerable species; however, they continue to be hunted in parts of Asia, such as the Philippines.
• up to a Life span to 60 years.

Life cycle

Adaptations

• large sized jaws allowing it to open wide 

•  protected by their extremely thick skin, up to six inches thick.

• Young whale sharks grow very rapidly, possibly an adaptation due to selection pressures

• this may be because Blue Marlin eat juvenile whale sharks so over time the sharks that grow faster survive and reproduce and have passed on the “growing fast gene” onto their offspring
• shark’s large size is an adaption 
• they can way up to 20.6 tons 
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Whale Shark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUMUSFLyZpU