Secrets of Whale Shark Migration Revealed Brian Handwerk - National Geographic
go to original August 22, 2013

It's one of nature's greatest spectacles - hundreds of Whale Sharks feeding off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Dr. Guy Harvey and filmmaker George C. Schellenger take you into the heart of an underwater wilderness to witness Whale Sharks, Sailfish and Makos. Jump in to explore an unforgettable world beyond belief and still here. (spaceshark)

The world's biggest fish are hungry migrators on a mission, according to a tracking study that mapped whale sharks' long journeys around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to a favorite feeding hot spot off the Yucatan Peninsula.

And one whale shark's incredible 5,000-mile (7,200-kilometer) swim could even help solve the long-standing mystery of where whale sharks give birth - an event no scientist has ever seen.

The largest-ever study of whale shark migrations, nine years in the making, shows that the hundreds of school bus-sized animals that feed in a plankton-saturated stretch off the Mexican coast come from far and wide.

The gentle giants - which can reach up to 40 feet (12 meters) or longer in length, and weigh an average of 5 tons - use mouth filters to feed on the tiny plankton and small fish or eggs.

Whale sharks are known to gather at a dozen major feeding locations around the world, from western Australia and Indonesia to Belize. But between May and September, the waters of Mexico's Quintana Roo state, on the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, draw far more animals than other spots and attract an estimated 800 or more in a given season.

Read the rest at National Geographic

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