Whale-shark encounters are strictly snorkelling-only, but there’s much more. While whale sharks can often be found around St Helena in groups of up to 30, we were content with our lone female … at 18 metres long and weighing around 20 tons, one is quite enough to keep your eye on! Whale sharks will often approach swimmers for a closer look.It's unknown how many individual whale sharks frequent Hawaii's waters, where they are coming from or going to, and where.Even a ‘mere’ 45-foot (12-metre) Whale Shark is an awfully BIG fish - such a shark has a mouth almost 6 feet (2 metres) across, gill slits over 5 feet (1.5 metres) in length, pectoral fins 8 feet (2.4 metres) long, a maximum girth of about 22 feet (6.7 metres), a first dorsal fin about four feet (1.2 metres) tall, a caudal fin spanning some 16 feet (4.8 metres) and a total mass of about. MAʻALAEA, MAUI, HI - Whale shark sightings have been reported throughout the Hawaiian Islands, but very little is known about these slow-moving, filter-feeding giant fish. According to research, it has a life cycle of 70 to 100 years, reaching sexual maturity at.

Its diet is based on microorganisms called plankton and is carried out by filtration through its five pairs of gills. The whale shark is a protected species considered the largest fish in the world, measuring up to approximately 18 meters in length.

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