Whalesharks
Swim with whale sharks in Mexico, you will be able to nearly touch this amazing and beautiful shark.
The whaleshark "rhincodon typus" counts to the biggest sharks in the world. The biggest whaleshark ever found was12.65 metres (41.50 ft) in length and weight more than 36 tonnes (79,000 lb).
This animal is a friendly fish and and feeds mainly plancton (microscopic plants and animals).
Dive choice Mexico offers:
Snorkeling with whalesharks in Yucatan for 199.- usd per person
This tour is only possible from mid May to mid September
The package includes:
- Transportation from Playa del Carmen to Cancun and back
- Snorkel gear
- Boat to whale sharks with guide
- Soft drinks and sandwiches on board, beers are served, after the snorkelling
- Two guests snorkel at the same time together with one of our experienced guides
- Sailing along Contoy Island bird watching and snorkelling stop at the reef between Contoy island and isla Mujeres
This tour does not include:
Ferry ticket
VERY IMPORTANT: whale shark watching is 100% guaranteed or money back
Some whale sharks facts:
As the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more, whale
sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Their favorite meal is
plankton. Plankton is made up of animals and plants that either float passively in the water, or possess
such limited powers of swimming that they are carried from place to place by the
currents. The word plankton comes from the Greek word planktos, which means 'wandering' or
'drifting'. Plankton dominates the well-lit surface layers of the world's oceans.
They scoop these tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish that happen to be around, with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water's surface.
The whale shark is a filter feeder. In order to feed, it juts out its huge jaws and sucks in everything in the vicinity. It then shuts its mouth, forcing water to filter out of its gills. The whale shark's flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbells protruding from its nostrils. Its back and
sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white. Its two dorsal fins are set rearward on its body, which ends in a large dual-lobbed caudal fin.
Sexual maturity in both sexes may not occur until the sharks are over 9meters/30 feet in length. Age estimates for whale sharks are as high as 60 years, but no one really knows how long this species lives.
Different geographic locations appear to be preferred at various times of the year. Whale sharks alternatively may undertake either fairly localized or large-scale transoceanic migrations, the movements governed by the timing and location of production pulses and possibly by breeding behavior. Seasonal migrations have been postulated for various areas but more information is needed to confirm these patterns.
Reproduction
It was unclear whether it is oviparous (egg cases expelled from the female's body and hatched on the sea
floor) or ovoviviparous (egg cases hatching in the mother's uteri, with the female giving birth to live young). Finally in 1995, an 11-meter female whale shark was harpooned off the eastern coast of Taiwan and 300 fetal specimens, ranging in length from 42 to 63cm, were taken from the two uteri. This discovery proved that the species is a live bearer, with an ovoviviparous mode of development. The egg-capsules of this whale shark were amber colored, with a smooth texture, and possessed a respiratory fissure (opening) on each side.
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