Whale Shark

Hello there. I am a whale shark, and I am the biggest fish in the whole ocean. My skin is gray and covered in a beautiful pattern of white spots and stripes. My pattern is very special because it is unique to me, just like a human's fingerprint is unique to them. No two whale sharks have the exact same spots. Even though I am a type of shark and I am very big, I am a gentle and friendly giant. I swim slowly and peacefully through the water, and I am very calm around my ocean friends.

I live in the warm, sunny waters all around the world. It feels like a big, cozy swimming pool. When it's time for me to eat, I do something funny. I swim with my huge mouth wide open. My mouth can be very wide, and I use it like a giant net to catch my food. I don't eat big fish. Instead, I eat tiny little plants and animals called plankton. They are so small you can barely see them, but I eat a lot of them. People first officially learned about my kind a long time ago, in the year 1828. One of my relatives was seen in a place called Table Bay in South Africa, and that's when scientists started to study us.

I am a great traveler and I go on long journeys across the ocean. I swim for many, many miles to find the best places to eat and to enjoy the warm water. My travels are very important for the ocean's health because I help keep everything in balance. By eating lots of plankton, I make sure there isn't too much of it, which helps keep the food chain working properly. When you see me swimming happily in the ocean, it's a good sign. It means the ocean is healthy, and a healthy ocean is important for all the animals that live there and for people, too.