Whale Shark
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SCIENCE CONCEPT
Whale sharks feed on plankton and travel long distances to find food but they can only go about 3mph. They live in places like Australia, Maldives, South Africa, and Mexico. They are not aggressive, they are friendly to humans. It has very few predators but if they do they prey on the little whale sharks, some of them are the blue marlin and the blue shark.
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APPLICATION
Whale sharks balance the oceans plankton levels and prevent microscopic organisms from getting to be too much. We need to study whale sharks so we can know about the dangers of them. Also their fins, meat and oils are highly valued on international markets. Its scientific name is Rhincodon typus, they are also very hard to study though because of their size.
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CAREER
A person who studies whale sharks is called an ichthyologist. They observe the behavior of different fish species and also discover new fish species, analyze data, and write and publish papers. They make about $89,403 a year. Ichthyologists use their skills to perform dissections and examinations.
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SCIENTIST
A small whale shark research team led by Dr. Simon Pierce is known for their amazing research. Including; Dr Chris Rohner, Dr Clare Prebble, Dr David Robinson, Stella Diamant, and Alex Watts. They also have to have a bachelor's degree in marine biology, and a diving certification. Dr Simon J. Pierce works at Marine Megafauna Foundation.
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