The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow filter feeding shark that is the largest known living fish species. The species was first identified in April 1828 following the harpooning of a 4.6 metre (15.1 ft) specimen in Table Bay, South Africa. The name “whale shark” comes from the fish’s physiology; that is, a shark as large as a whale that shares a similar filter feeder eating mode. The whale shark inhabits the world’s tropical and warm-temperate oceans. While thought to be primarily pelagic, seasonal feeding aggregations of the sharks occur at several coastal sites such...