Gentle Giants
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on this planet, measuring up to nearly 19 m for the largest specimen. Found mainly in the tropics, these benevolent beasts, although they look like they could have been the fish that swallowed Jonah, prefer to eat mostly tiny plankton that they filter feed from the water. These sharks are listed as vulnerable because of their demand on the Asian fish market as the ‘tofu shark’, a moniker given to them because of their soft white meat. Their resident populations are protected in Mafia Island, Tanzania, by the Mafia Island Marine Park which encompasses 822 km2 of marine habitat. The area is being submitted by the Blue Action Fund and WWF for a nomination as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB). The area is known internationally as a hotspot for marine life and one of the habitats supporting the highest marine biodiversity in East Africa and the West Indian Ocean.