average whale sharks weight?

Answer 1

The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14 m), weighing up to 15 tons. The average size is 25 feet (7.6 m) long It is the largest fish in the world. Females are larger than males (like most sharks).

The greatest size accurately recorded was 12 meters (39 ft) long, with unofficial accounts of 18 meters (59 ft), weighing up to 12,000 kg (approximately 26,000 lb.) It is not to be confused with the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), the second largest fish. As a member of the order Orectolobiformes, it is a filter feeder and as such the shark has a capacious mouth which can be up to 1.5 m (5 ft) wide and contain up to 300 rows of tiny teeth. As part of its feeding process, it also has five large pairs of gills. Two small eyes are located towards the front of the shark's wide, flat head. The body is mostly grey with a white belly; three prominent ridges run along each side of the animal and the skin is marked with a 'checkerboard' of pale yellow spots and stripes. These spots are unique to each whale shark. Because of the spots' uniqueness they can be used to identify each animal and make an accurate population count. But so far the whale sharks have not been fully and accurately counted. Its skin can be up to 10 cm thick. The shark has two pairs each of dorsal fins and pectoral fins. A juvenile whale shark's tail has a larger upper fin than lower fin while the adult tail becomes semi-lunate, or crescent-shaped. The shark's spiracles are just behind the eyes. The whale shark is not an efficient swimmer; the entire body is in motion while the animal swims. The result of this motion, one that is very unusual for sharks, is an average speed of around 5 km/h.

Answer 2

The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14 m), weighing up to 15 tons. The average size is 25 feet (7.6 m) long. It is the largest fish in the world. Females are larger than males (like most sharks).