The Most 'Well-Behaved' Shark: They Make No Noise While Hunting and Walk Like Humans
Whale sharks are fish that live in the ocean. They are very docile and love to bask in the sun, so they live in tropical and temperate regions. They are also migratory fish. The distribution range of whale sharks can be seen in distribution maps represented by yellow dots, with many yellow dots distributed along the coastlines. If you want to list the countries where whale sharks exist, there are many, from the large ones we've heard of, such as Australia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, to the smaller ones we may not have ever heard of, such as Pitcairn, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, etc., all have whale sharks.
British BBC once broadcast a documentary called ‘Earth Pulse’ about the process of animal migration, telling the story of animal migration. The film featured footage of whale sharks hunting in this film. Whale sharks hunt in a very interesting way. They only need to suck in seawater to filter out food with their gill rakers, which are similar to a filter inside their bodies. Whale sharks are very quiet when foraging, like a paddle moving in the water.
However, biologists still have many questions about this shark, which is similar in size to a whale. The debate about the reproductive methods of whale sharks has continued for a long time. Before the mid-20th century, biologists had little knowledge about the reproduction of whale sharks, and everyone just inferred its reproductive method based on existing information, without any direct evidence to prove it.
This debate continued until the mid-20th century. Near the Mexican coast, biologists discovered some strange shark eggshells. After studying them, they found that these shark eggshells were covered with whale shark embryos. Biologists concluded that it was an oviparous animal. However, scientific discoveries are tortuous, and conclusions are not settled so easily. It wasn’t until the late 20th century, when Taiwanese fishermen accidentally caught a female whale shark, that the original oviparous conclusion was broken, and people continued to approach the truth.
Inside the female whale shark caught by Taiwanese fishermen, people found about three hundred baby whale sharks and some shark eggshells. These facts point to the fact that whale sharks are actually ovoviviparous. The term ‘ovoviviparous’ sounds as strange as the name of the whale shark. Simply put, we can understand it as oviparous plus viviparous, meaning that the young of this animal develops in the egg and then slips into the mother’s womb to be born.
The birth of a whale shark is like this. Male and female whale sharks mate, and the female whale shark will retain the sperm of the male in her body. Then, she will produce baby whale sharks at certain times, and the whole process will be completed. From the number of baby whale sharks found in the female whale shark caught by Taiwanese fishermen, we can also see that one whale shark produces a large number of offspring. Despite this, due to large-scale human hunting, the number of whale sharks is not much.
In the late 20th century, the Philippines banned whale shark fishing. This was followed by India, and Taiwan also limited the number of whale sharks caught each year. In 2008, whale shark fishing became a complete ban. Today's introduction of whale sharks is over. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment in the comment section, and we will see you next time!
