The Whale Shark Of Pujada Bay, The Philippines (Rhincodon Typus)
- The Persaud Catalog
- Sep 10
- 8 min read
Updated: Sep 14
This month's article series will be discussing the beautiful & esteemed Pujada Bay! Pujada Bay is a bay located in the Southern Philippines, on the island of Mindanao. Mindanao is approximately 946.86 Nautical Miles (1,753.58472 kilometers or 1,089.62703 miles) away from mainland Asia.
On November 17th of 2019, the Bay was put on the Most Beautiful Bays in the World List. For this reason, the bay is well known for being one of the most beautiful, as well as most biodiverse, bays on earth. The bay is confirmed to have at least 25 genera of both hard & soft coral, & it has at least 2,000 acres worth of mangrove along its coast. In addition to all of this, the bay is known to have at least 19 different species of seagrass.
Since the bay is considered to be an international treasure, it is in a protected area. This area covers both the bay itself, & the landscape surrounding it. In addition to the landscapes surrounding the bay, the islands in the bay are also protected. The bay currently has 4 islands, known as: Pujada Island, Uanivan Island, Oak Island, & Ivy Island. In addition to absolutely magnificent plant life, the bay is rich with marine animals. One of these marine animals is the Whale Shark.
The Whale Shark is the world's largest species of Shark, & the world's largest species of fish. It is not a mammal, & it is not closely related to whales. The name “Whale Shark” comes from its whale-like appearance, not its genealogy.
These sharks are found largely in tropical areas, & tend to prefer warmer environments. Whale sharks are known to be very sweet, & will occasionally even let swimmers swim with them. They do not dislike humans, & younger whale sharks will sometimes even play with divers. In addition to their docile nature, they are fairly intelligent animals.
Whale sharks around certain islands in the central Philippines have learnt to come at a certain time each morning to be fed shrimp. The fishermen who feed these whale sharks feed them so that tourists can see them more easily. In this way, a deal is made, & the fishermen, tourists, & whale sharks all benefit in their ways.
In this article, we will discuss the discovery & life of the Whale Shark, the mating strategies of the Whale Shark, the distribution of the Whale Shark, & the scientific details of the Whale Shark. With that being said, let us delve into this fascinating behemoth.
The Discovery & Life Of The Whale Shark
The Whale Shark Was Discovered by Sir Andrew Smith, a British Surgeon, explorer, ethnologist, & zoologist. He discovered this species in the year 1828, & gave it the name of “Rhiniodon Typus”.
The Whale Shark can be up to 62 feet (18.8976 meters) long, & 41,000 pounds (18,597.287 kilograms). The upper limit of their life span is unclear, though they have been recorded to live to at least 100 years. As a species, Whale Sharks have existed for at least 24.8 million years, which would mean that they have existed since the Paleogene.
Whale Sharks are intelligent creatures, & are usually docile. They will often allow humans to swim around them, & will even approach humans. Juveniles are known to play with divers, & approach them with the inquisitiveness of a human child.
Whale sharks aren’t territorial, as they are constantly migrating, & rarely stay in the same area for more than a few months. This species is generally solitary, unless there is an event that would bring a large amount of food to one place, such as mass coral spawning.
Despite being migratory, Whale Sharks are extremely slow. Whale Sharks are known not to be able to swim faster than approximately 3 miles per hour. The reason for swimming like this is that they have to conserve energy. Due to their large size, & slow speeds, they aren’t very agile animals.
Since sharks don’t have swim bladders like the majority of fish, they control their buoyancy by having extra oil stored in their livers. This species in particular has to constantly be swimming, so they are only able to sleep by shutting off half of their brains, & keeping the rest on standby.
The diet of the Whale Shark largely consists of shrimp, krill, algae, small fish, & occasionally jellyfish. They are filter-feeding organisms, similar to baleen whales or Basking sharks. They are not cannibalistic in any sense. Whale Sharks have their mouths constantly open, so whenever they are moving, they are eating. Chemosensory is the most common way that whale sharks locate their food.
Due to their massive size, adult whale sharks have no known predators. However, juveniles are known to be targeted by Great White Sharks, as well as Blue Marlin.
The Whale Shark is light grey, with white spots & small stripes all over. These white spots & stripes are uniquely patterned on each Whale Shark, much like a human fingerprint. No two whale sharks are the same. Their heads are flat, with blunt snouts, & their underbelly is white.
As of 2025, there are currently estimated to be 119,000 to 240,000 individuals left. According to the last population assessment on March 18th of 2016, they are currently endangered. With a population trend that is decreasing, the future of the Whale Shark is heavily conservation dependent.
The Mating Procedures, Practices, Tactics, Cycles, & Strategies Of The Whale Shark
The Whale Shark breeds via sexual reproduction. Whale Sharks are gonochoristic, & have 2 distinct sexes. The breeding system of this species is polyamorous, meaning that both sexes have multiple partners each breeding season.
The Whale Shark will reach sexual maturity at age 25, & will usually breed until its old age. It is unclear how, or where exactly, the whale sharks will congregate to mate, or how long their gestational period is.
Once the male sharks have initiated to each other that they wish to mate, they will breed via internal fertilization. The males will have no part in the children's lives, & apart from giving them life, neither with the female. It is currently a scientific mystery as to where they give birth, though some theories suggest it may be the Philippines.
Females are ovoviviparous, meaning that their eggs are gestated in egg casings within their body, & will hatch out of the female when they are ready. They do not have placentas, & are not attached to their mother physically. The female will give birth to between 1 & 300 pups, then will promptly abandon them. These pups will be between 38, & 60 centimeters long at birth. The mother will leave the children to fend for themselves, & swim off into the ocean, never to be seen again.
The Distribution Of The Whale Shark
The Whale Shark is distributed around the globe, primarily in tropical or subtropical settings. They tend to enjoy waters that are between 21° Celsius, & 25° Celsius (69.8° Fahrenheit & 77° Fahrenheit). They are known to enjoy deep, & shallow coral reefs, as well as coastal waters.
As of 2025, the deepest a whale shark has ever been recorded to swim is 1,800 meters (5,905.512 feet). Whale sharks are naturally migratory, & are known to not stay in the same place for long. Large groups of whale sharks may occasionally migrate to a certain region when large amounts of food spontaneously flow into that area, creating a similar effect to a Jellyfish Bloom.
The Scientific Details Of The Whale Shark
By far the most interesting thing about the whale shark is its 10-centimeter-thick skin. Whale sharks have incredibly thick skin to deter attacks, namely from Great White sharks, & killer whales.
Whale sharks have 3,000 miniature teeth in their jaw, which reach a maximum of 6 millimeters long. These teeth aren’t used for feeding, as the whale shark is a filter feeder rather than an active predator.
Similar to all sharks, the whale shark does not have bones or a skeleton. They instead have a large cartilaginous structure in their bodies. The reason for their lack of bones is that cartilage is much less dense than bone, making swimming much faster.
Whale sharks are unfortunately, very prone to leeches, tapeworms, parasitic copepods, & certain species of flatworms. These parasitic infections are a large nuisance to the whale, & can result in skin discolouration. Copepod infections will often appear in the form of thick red patches on the skin; however, they don’t affect the whale shark. Due to its thick skin, the copepods aren’t really hurting the whale shark, & mainly feed off of bacteria already found on the whale shark's skin. Though not affected, the whale sharks still feel discomfort, & will often attempt to get them off. The primary species of copepod that inhabits the whale shark is the Pandarus Rhincodonicus. This species is not specific to one population of Whale shark, & is found globally. It exclusively inhabits whale sharks, & is not known to parasitize any other species at this time.
Their phylum is Chordata, meaning that they developed these 5 characteristics. All species under the phylum of Chordata develop 5 similar characteristics either in adulthood or as juveniles. The characteristics that they develop include a notochord, dorsal hollow nerve cord, endostyle or thyroid, pharyngeal slits, & a post-anal tail. & three middle ear bones.
Their class is Chondrichthyes. This is a class of fish that is primarily composed of cartilage. This class can be compared to the class Osteichthyes, which is a class of fish that is primarily composed of bone. A few universal characteristics for any fish in the class Chondrichthyes are that they are all jawed vertebrates, they have paired fins, paired nares, scales, & a heart with chambers in a series.
Their order is Orectolobiformes, which are commonly known as Carpet Sharks. A universal characteristic in this order is that they have 2 dorsal fins that are proportionally short, & a mouth that does not extend behind their eyes. This order currently has 43 species categorized under it.
Their family is Rhincodontidae, which has only 1 living member, that being the whale shark.
Their genus is Rhincodon. The whale shark's binomial name is Rhincodon Typus.
Directories / Credits
Citation No. 1: “Pujada Bay is Among The World’s Most Beautiful Bays” Written by Karen Lou Deloso, & Published on November 17th, 2019. Published by Province of Davao. Retrieval Date: December 28th, 2023.
Citation No. 2: “Facts” Written By Unknown & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by the World Wildlife Fund. Retrieval Date: December 28th, 2023.
Citation No. 3: “Marine Life Encyclopedia Sharks & Rays: Whale Shark” Written By Unknown & Published at an Unknown Date. Retrieval Date: December 28th, 2023.
Citation No. 4: “Whale Shark: Rhincodon Typus” Written By S.J. Pierce, & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by the International Union For The Conservation Of Nature. Retrieval Date: December 28th, 2023.
Citation No. 5: “Whale Shark Reproduction” Written By Unknown, & Published on February 1st, 2014. Published by the Galapagos Conservation Trust. Retrieval Date: December 28th, 2023.
Citation No. 6: “Whale sharks With Parasites”, Written by Simon Lorenz, & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by Insider Divers. Retrieval Date: December 30th, 2023.
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