Whale Shark

The infamous WHALE SHARK is the largest fish in the world, and is on most divers’ bucket lists of “must sees”, growing on average 49-60’, living an estimated 100 years or more.  They’re typically docile and pose no threat to divers and are unmistakable in the water with their size, dark backs and patterned light spots and stripes.  Their large cavern-like mouth stretching the width of their bodies is used to scoop up plankton, squid and small pelagic fish.  Around the Hawaiian Islands, these gentle giants are typically seen on leeward sides of islands and typically swim near the surface, often times relatively close to shore.  This species is now considered threatened due to commercial fishing in some parts of the world.  Much like humpback whales, the whale shark can be identified by their unique pattern of stripes and spots.  The program used to help identify these sharks based on photos taken uses the same algorithm used on the Hubble Space Telescope to identify star patterns.  As of recently, there were over 1,000 whale sharks identified and catalogued in the world.  Schedule a dive with www.honuhawaiiandiving.com in hopes of seeing this beautiful creature and crossing it off your bucket list! #scuba #diving #scubadiving #honuhawaiiandiving #oahu #hawaii #itsahonuworld #whaleshark #whale #shark #gentlegiant