Last month, the smallest free-swimming whale shark ever recorded was spotted and photographed by tourists during a dive in
Manado, Indonesia. The young whale shark was estimated at a mere
1.5m, breaking the previous minimum estimate of 2.5m (seen on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia). (Ref:
www.finsonline.com).
Background Info:
Young whale sharks are rarely spotted in surface waters, with the smallest one ever recorded being ~2.5m on Ningaloo Reef. Whale shark breeding remains one of the mysteries, with only a single pregnant whale shark ever having been recorded. Taken in a Taiwanese fishery in 1995, the female shark was carrying over 300 young, at three different stages of development (with the most fully developed sharks measuring 55-65cm).
The fact that young whale sharks are rarely seen in surface waters may suggest that whale sharks breed in deeper waters. Satellite tracking tags have recorded whale sharks to dive to a depth of at least 1500m, and these sharks belong to the bottom-dwelling Orectolobiformes Order of sharks. Scientific evidence on whale shark breeding remains limited, and researchers are working to further unravel this mystery. The question remains - where are the breeding hotspots for whale sharks?
[/URL]
[/img]
