Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more, and whale sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Fortunately for most sea-dwellers—and us! — their favorite meal is plankton. They scoop these tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish that happen to be around, with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water’s surface.

Similar to the fingerprint of a human, the pattern of spots around the gill area are unique to each individual allowing researchers to identify individual sharks.

The only known predator of the whale shark is humans.The mouth of the whale shark is massive, reaching a width of approximately 1 meter (over 3 feet).

Only 3 shark species (the whale shark, the basking shark, and the megamouth shark) are filter feeders, straining their prey from the water column.