The mighty Whale Shark (Rhincodon Typus), in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

From the archive record

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the biggest shark and the biggest fish. Please keep in mind that it is not a whale. The whale shark has very distinctive light-yellow markings (random stripes and dots) on its thick grey skin. Its skin is upto 4 inches(10 cm) thick. There are three prominent ridges running along each side of the shark's body. The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14m) and it can weigh upto 15 tons. It has a huge mouth measuring upto 4 feet wide. Whale sharks have about 3,000 very tiny teeth but they are of no little use. Whale sharks are filter feeders that sieves enormous amount of planktons to eat through its gills as it swims. The prey includes plankton, krill, small fish, and squid. The shark can process over 1500 gallons (6000 liters) of water each hour. Whale sharks