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Rhincodon typus
During a recent trip to Maldives, we had 2 Whale Sharks showed up behind our Boat at night and I was able to spend more than 6 hours in the water with them. The Boat put up bright lights at night to attracts planktons and this in turn attracts other predators, big and small to feed on them. Being the biggest fish in the world, it is incredible that the diet of the Whale Sharks are tiny planktons. They are filter feeders, gulping in huge volume of water rich in planktons and this water are course through their gills which takes in the planktons and other small/tiny stuff as their food. On this particular occasion, one of the whale shark spend the whole night feeding behind our Boat, it shows up around 7 pm and was still there feeding when I got up the next morning at 5 am!
Tropical waters
Pic#1 - Huge mouth of a Whale Shark - Rhincodon typus, all opened up during feeding. Pic#2 - Feeding near the calm surface, with reflection. Pic#3 - 2 Whale Sharks busy feeding near the surface. In Pic#2, the brownish/reddish colour around the mouth are paint residues from boats. Unfortunately, this Whale Sharks have associate boats to possible food, and they come too close to boats for feeding, at time brushing their head to the Boat, thus getting the paint on them. With the permission of the Boat/Dive Operator, I was able to scrub off the paint while snorkelling with them. They were not bothered with my efforts and did not even swim away from me each time I scrub around the mouth.
Spotted on Apr 1, 2019
Submitted on Apr 23, 2019
25 Comments (1–25)
Thanks, @subhojit and @WilliamsFamily for your kind words and appreciation :)
Wow, just amazing. What a shot!
Thanks, @Daniel for another SOTD :)
Thanks too, @Tukup, @armadeus.4, @Michael and @BrittJ for your kind words and appreciation :)
Well deserved! Stunning photos!
A very well deserved SOTD. Your under water work is always awsome!!!!
Congratulations Albert! Fabulous SOTD. Thank you for sharing :)
Congratulations Albert on the SOTD. Thanks for sharing your pictures and story. Just thinking of the range from a tiny minnow to a whale shark. Both fish.
Congratulations Albert and thank you for bringing us such an amazing feel-good story!
You've outdone yourself here Albert! These images and story are simply amazing. Congratulations on a Spotting of the Day!
"Spotting of the Day! How's that for a black hole? This extraordinary image is the very large open mouth of a Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus), feeding at night. The largest non-cetacean member of the animal kingdom, the whale shark is one of only three known filter-feeding shark species (the others being the basking shark and the megamouth shark). Make sure to check the spotting and read the story of our member Albert Kang's encounter with two whale sharks, complete with more images".
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Thanks, @Michael & @Marid dB, for your kind words and appreciation :)
How wonderful that it occurred to you to remove the paint from them and that they allowed you to do it!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated Albert!
Wow. Totally speechles!! amazing shots!!
Thanks, @Neil and yes, it was quite an incredible experience :)
Spectacular images, Albert. What an incredible experience this must have been.
Thanks, @Mark and @triggsturner for your kind words and appreciation :)
Amazing angle on that first image Albert. Love it.
Thanks Albert. What a great experience.
Thanks, @Lauren.
Yes, I did get pics of the whole sharks, but rather difficult at night.
Also near the surface where the sharks are hanging out, its very bright whereas a bit deeper where the tails are, its totally dark.
Very cool! I'm so glad you removed the paint! Did you get a picture of the whole fish?
Thanks, Daniele :)
Extraordinary images Albert!
Thanks, @Leuba and @Sergio.
I was having the time of my life, it was quite an experience :)
I agree with Leuba, you're a very lucky man. Photo #2 is a killer.
Scrubbing paint off a whale shark ! What a wonderfully lucky man you are .....