# Whale Shark — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Rhincodon typus (Smith, 1828) — family Rhincodontidae*

> The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

**IUCN status:** Endangered — the largest fish alive, and a filter feeder  ·  **WARN range:** Tropical and warm-temperate oceans worldwide, Seasonal aggregation sites off Mexico, the Philippines, Australia and East Africa

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Maximum length | ~18 m |
| Diet | Plankton, fish eggs, krill and small fish |
| Teeth | ~3,000, each a few mm, unused in feeding |
| Identification | Unique spot pattern behind the gills |
| Age at maturity | Around 30 years |
| Trade status | CITES Appendix II |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Chondrichthyes
- **Order:** Orectolobiformes
- **Family:** Rhincodontidae
- **Genus:** Rhincodon
- **Species:** Rhincodon typus

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Endangered
- **Population:** Unknown; substantial decline documented across recent generations
- **Trend:** Decreasing
- **Assessed:** 2016
- **CITES:** Appendix II
- Late maturity and low reproductive output mean adult losses have an outsized effect. Well-regulated tourism can support protection; unregulated tourism adds to the pressure.

## Key facts: Whale Shark
- Whale sharks are fish, not whales — the name reflects size and filter feeding.
- They eat plankton, fish eggs and small fish, filtering water through gill rakers.
- Spot patterns are individually unique and are matched using astronomy software.
- Late maturity, around 30 years, makes populations extremely slow to recover.
- They are Endangered, hit by ship strikes, fishing and unmanaged tourism.

## Filter feeding at scale
A whale shark feeds by opening its enormous mouth and either swimming through plankton or holding position and actively suctioning water in. Gill rakers strain out plankton, fish eggs, krill and small fish, and the water passes out through the gills.

It has around 3,000 teeth, each only a few millimetres long, and they play no role in feeding at all. Their function, if any, is unresolved — a good illustration of how much about even the largest fish remains unknown.

## Identified by starlight software
The pattern of pale spots and stripes behind a whale shark's gills is unique to the individual and stable for life. Researchers photograph it and match it using an algorithm adapted from software written to identify star patterns in astronomical images.

That method turned whale shark research into a global collaboration: photographs from tourists and divers feed public databases, and individual sharks have been re-identified years later and thousands of kilometres away.

## Slow lives, sharp declines
Whale sharks are thought to mature at around 30 years and to live far longer. Slow maturity and low reproductive output mean that losing adults has a disproportionate effect, and populations cannot rebound quickly from fishing or bycatch.

The species is listed as Endangered. Targeted fishing has been banned in many countries but continues in some, and bycatch in tuna purse seines, ship strikes at aggregation sites and entanglement all remove animals from a population that replaces them slowly.

## Tourism: the double edge
Predictable seasonal aggregations support significant whale shark tourism, which gives coastal communities an economic reason to protect the animals — a live shark is worth far more repeatedly than a dead one once.

Badly managed, though, tourism harms them. Boat strikes, crowding, touching and provisioning to hold sharks at a site all cause measurable stress and injury. Well-run operations enforce minimum distances, no touching, no flash and boat exclusion zones, and those rules are the difference between tourism that protects the species and tourism that erodes it.

## What WARN does
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including where wildlife tourism helps and where it harms. Whale sharks are among the clearest cases: the same activity can fund protection or injure the animals, and the deciding factor is whether operators follow distance and handling rules that visitors are in a position to insist on.

If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.

## Frequently asked questions: Whale Shark
### Is a whale shark a whale or a shark?
A shark — the largest fish alive. The name refers to its whale-like size and filter-feeding habit, not to any relationship with whales, which are mammals.

### How big do whale sharks get?
Around 18 metres at the largest verified sizes, and roughly 20 tonnes. Reports of considerably larger animals circulate but are generally unverified.

### Are whale sharks dangerous?
No. They are filter feeders with around 3,000 tiny teeth that play no role in feeding. They pose no threat to swimmers, though their size means an accidental tail strike from a startled animal can injure someone who is too close.

### How are individual whale sharks identified?
By the pattern of pale spots behind the gills, which is unique to each animal and stable for life. Researchers match photographs using an algorithm adapted from software built to identify star patterns, and public photo databases let tourists contribute records.

### Are whale sharks endangered?
Yes, the IUCN lists them as Endangered. They mature at around 30 years, so populations recover very slowly from targeted fishing, bycatch in tuna fisheries, ship strikes and entanglement.

### What do whale sharks eat?
Whale Sharks eat Plankton, fish eggs, krill and small fish. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

### Where do whale sharks live?
Whale Sharks live in Tropical and warm-temperate oceans worldwide, Seasonal aggregation sites off Mexico, the Philippines, Australia and East Africa. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

### How long do whale sharks live?
Whale Sharks typically live Around 30 years. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Rhincodon typus](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/19488/2365291)
- [CITES Appendices](https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/whale-shark