Above the surface of the ocean on a sunny day, a fisherman threw his trash in the sea and sped away.
Meanwhile 2 fishes named Kev and Jo were lazily swimming around till they heard a plop above. They looked up and saw something coming straight down. They were about to swim towards it when they heard another boat coming.
“Quick! Let’s go up and maybe there might be more of those that human threw in the sea.” Quickly both fishes swam towards the surface. They were about to pop their heads up except there was an invisible force that was blocking them from moving and breathing. They were getting frantic until they heard shouts and splashes until a human hand came and took out whatever it was that blocked them.
“Dude what the hell! You almost killed us with that thing!”, the 2 fishes ranted out at the humans slapping their fins on the water.
“Don’t throw your trash out in the sea kiddo! Did you see what happen there? You almost killed those fishes. Now look at them, I think they’re trying to say thank you to us for helping them! Doesn’t that look cute? Here, have some food you poor fishes!”, cooed the human mother, throwing some bread over to them.
Kev and Jo the fishes stopped their rant and ate up all the bread.
“Mommy, is this where we will be able to see whale sharks? Can they eat us?”, asked a human kid.
The 2 fishes almost choked on their food and quickly looked under them. They sighed in relief when they didn’t see one. “Stay near the boat Kev. If there is a whale shark nearby, then we can offer the humans instead.”, said Kev to Jo.
“We might get lucky and see one here. They usually prefer warm water so they inhabit all tropical and warm-temperate seas. Do you know you can see them mostly in Australia but you can also see them in India, the Maldives, South Africa, Belize, Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, Southeast Asia and Indonesia? and No kiddo, whale sharks do not eat humans. Whale sharks are actually called gentle giants cause they do not attack humans. They usually only feed on small shrimp, fish and plankton.” replied the human mother to her kid.
Kev and Jo the fish spluttered when they heard the word gentle giants. “Easy for you to say! You’re not the one in the menu human!”
“How do they eat mommy? You showed me a picture once of them and they have this huggggeee mouth and how big can they go?!”, asked the human kid excitedly to her mom.
“Well, whale sharks are filter feeders and can neither bite nor chew. Their mouth can stretch up to 4 feet wide and have about 3,000 tiny teeth (less than 1-inch long) since their teeth are tiny and can only eat by using their gill rakers as a suction filter. Do you also want to know how big they are? They can grow up to 39 feet! Imagine standing next to a big school bus! That’s how full grown whales are.”
“We’re dead. It was good seeing you brother.” said Jo to Kev. Kev slapped Jo with his fins. “Don’t lose hope bro. That little human may pass up as a small fish for the whale shark. We can point her.”
“How do whale sharks get pregnant mommy? Do they lay eggs like our fishes in the tank does?”
“Yes, female whale sharks are ovoviviparus meaning when they get pregnant, they produce eggs but they do not lay eggs. They hatch inside the mother and born as live sharks called pups, about 16–24 inches long. Another interesting fact is male whale sharks reach maturity at 25 to 30 years old or when they reach 25–30 ft / 7.5–9m, whereas females reach maturity at a longer time since they grow bigger than the males, 14 meters at about age 50.”
The kid asked why that was. “Females need more girth to carry their young and they can carry up to 300 at one time. But not all live since whale shark pups are poor swimmers they make an easy meal for predators that prey on smaller fishes like killer whales and sharks.”, replied her mother.
Kev and Jo were sweating buckets once the mother stopped explaining. “We need to make a pact with those killer whales. We can lure them to a pregnant whale shark so they can eat their pups.” said Jo. “Great plan genius. You’re forgetting one thing. Those predators eat us too.” They looked at each other and to the humans. “Ok, great. We’re doomed. Its like we’re the bottom of the food chain!”, they huffed and carried on listening to the conversations of the humans in gloom.
“How old can they go mommy?”
“Well, its been said they can reach up to 100–150 years! Longer than us!”
“Awesome.” said the 2 fishes in sarcasm, rolling their eyes.
The human mother went on telling her kid, that another great fact with whale sharks was they can be identified from their pattern of spots on their body. No two whale sharks have the same pattern, just as similar as a human fingerprint. The kid listened in wide eyed amazement at her mom, enchanted with all the unique facts of the whale sharks. She asked her mom if there were many of them around the world.
“It is difficult to say kid. However, whale sharks are becoming endangered.”
Hearing this perked up the 2 fishes. “There is hope!”, they both cried.
The mother went on explaining, “Reason why they’re becoming endangered is because of the greatest danger among them. Humans. Yes us. They are fished and killed by ship propellers. Whale sharks are also hunted for their liver oil, which is used as a waterproofing treatment for wooden boats. Habitat destruction and excessive pollution are also harmful not only to the whale sharks but to the entire marine life. Its important that they do not go extinct because whale sharks play an important role in the ecosystem by maintaining the species below them in the food chain and serving as an indicator for ocean health.”
Kev and Jo stared hard at the mother when she said the last part. “Now, she makes us feel guilty. But know what Jo, think maybe its not so bad being at the bottom of the food chain. If it helps the balance of nature, then by Tridents and Seaweeds, we will be happy to be of service as a meal for this whalesharks!”
Feeling enlightened with this thought, the 2 fishes left the boat and continued on with their daily ocean life. They didn’t get too far until they felt a looming presence behind them. “Damn top of the food chain!” they cried out before the huge mouth closed in on them.
Save the ocean. Save all species. Save the balance of the nature.
Sources:
https://sciencing.com/whale-sharks-important-ecosystem-10065229.html
