The whale shark which is neither a whale nor a shark but is the worlds largest living fish. It is a slow moving filter feeding fish which resembles a shark. The largest confirmed individual had a length 41.50 ft and a weight of more than 21.5 tonnes (47,000 lb)! Tradewinds weighs 40,000 lbs and is 44 ft in length. We swam within inches of these magnificent creatures. Many we saw were in the 35 ft range. Age estimates for whale sharks are as high as 60 years, but no one really knows how long this species lives. It feeds on plankton which it screen from water that is taken in with a versatile suction filter-feeding. It has no known predators as an adult other than humans, and is generally harmless.
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