Sometimes, even whale sharks enjoy a simple bag lunch.

Whale sharks eat plankton. Any fish that get pulled in are collateral damage. Actually, not even "damage", as they get shot out the gills unharmed.

Edit: Well wikipedia says they do occasionally eat very small fish, my bad.

Wow, that was an awesome showcase. Not some Ford Focus, but a new Challenger...nice.

On another note, I don't remember the little aquarium under MoA having a whale shark. If that's true, I'll be back in 20 min. to let you all know how it was.

I cried a tear of joy when I found that my beloved whale shark viddy had broken out of my PQ. Thank you all for warming the cockles of my heart.

Thanks!

In reply to this comment by cybrbeast:
WTF, whale sharks in an aquarium? Amazing!
*promote

WTF, whale sharks in an aquarium? Amazing!
*promote

He means longest bony fish. Though... with the number of these we've seen (and measured, compared to the number of whale sharks we've seen (very common), I'd lay my money on the oar fish being the longest fish.

The Whale Shark would like a word with the guy that claims 30 feet is the longest fish.

Definitely sea lions and dolphins in mexico...time for a change of the ol' avatar. Maybe the coolest was a seahorse, but I didn't have a camera and no one felt like responding to my flailing limbs to come see...

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
I saw a few of them (we were really lucky) last year at the Galapagos and they're indeed incredible (like a bus going by u/w).

Btw, don't tell anybody, but -- so far -- I've never managed to get a crab drunk, so my avatar is not my own pic either.

So what is the coolest creature you did have a close encounter with (and do you have pics)?

In reply to this comment by sharkie:
It's actually not my pic, sadly. As a diver I have seen a lot of cool creatures, but I am absolutely dying to see one of these myself!

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

I saw a few of them (we were really lucky) last year at the Galapagos and they're indeed incredible (like a bus going by u/w).

Btw, don't tell anybody, but -- so far -- I've never managed to get a crab drunk, so my avatar is not my own pic either.

So what is the coolest creature you did have a close encounter with (and do you have pics)?

In reply to this comment by sharkie:
It's actually not my pic, sadly. As a diver I have seen a lot of cool creatures, but I am absolutely dying to see one of these myself!

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

It's actually not my pic, sadly. As a diver I have seen a lot of cool creatures, but I am absolutely dying to see one of these myself!

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

#36 A duck's quack doesn't echo

#37 A snail breathes through its foot

#38 Fish cough.

#39 An ant's smell is stronger then a dog's

#40 It is possible to lead a cow up stairs but not down

#41 Shrimp can only swim backward

#42 Frogs cannot swallow with their eyes open

#43 A cat's lower jaw cannot move sideways

#44 The bullfrog is the only animal that never sleeps

#45 Elephants are capable of swimming 20 miles per day

#46 Elephants are the only mammal that cannot jump

#47 Giraffes have no vocal chords

#48 Cats can hear ultrasound

#49 Despite its hump...camels has a straight spine

#50 Mosquitoes have 47 teeth

#51 There is 63,360 inches in a mile

#52 11% of people in the world are left-handed

#53 The average women consumes 6lbs of lipstick in her lifetime

#54 The average smell weighs 760 nanograms *

#55 A human brain weighs about 3lbs

#56 1/4 of the bones in your body are in your feet

#57 You blink over 10,000,000 times a year

#58 A sneeze travels out of your nose at 100mph

#59 Brain waves can be used to power an electric train

#60 The tongue is the fastest healing part of the body

#61 Pigs get sunburn

#62 The lifespan of a taste bud is 10 days

#63 The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime

#64 Strawberries contain more Vitamin C then oranges

#65 A one-day weather forecast requires about 10 billion math calculations

#66 Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza a day

#67 There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal cracker zoo

#68 The longest one syllable word is "screeched"

#69 No word in the English language rhymes with month

#70 A "jiffy" is actually 1/100 of a second

#71 There is a town called "Big Ugly" in West Virginia

#72 The average person uses 150 gallons of water per day for personal use

#73 The average person spends 2 weeks of its life waiting for a traffic light to change

#74 You share your birthday with 9 million others in the world

#75 The average person makes 1,140 phone calls per year

#76 The average person spends 2 years on the phone in his/her lifetime

#77 No piece of paper can be folded more then 7 times

#78 Alaska is the most eastern and western state in the US

#79 There are 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter

#80 About 18% of Animal owners share their bed with their pet

#81 Alaska has more caribou then people

#82 August has the highest percent of births

#83 Googol is a number (1 followed by 100 zeros)

#84 Oysters can change genders back and forth

#85 The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows

#86 Until the 19th century solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia

#87 A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance

#88 A ten gallon hat holds less then one gallon of liquid

#89 The average American walks 18,000 steps a day

#90 The average raindrop falls at 7mph

#91 There are more telephones than people in Washington D.C.

#92 Fish can drown

#93 A Kangaroo can jump 30 feet

#94 Lizards communicate by doing push-ups

#95 Squids can have eyeballs the size of volleyballs

#96 The average American will eat 35,000 cookies in his/her lifetime

#97 A turkey can run at 20mph

#98 When the moon is directly over you, you weigh less

#99 You burn 20 calories an hour chewing gum

#100 In a year, the average person walks 4 miles making their bed

#101 About half of all Americans are on a diet at any given time

#102 A one-minute kiss burns 26 calories

#103 Frowning burns more calories then smiling

#104 There are more then 30,000 diets on public record

#105 You will burn 7% more calories walking on hard dirt then pavement

#106 You way less at the top of a mountain then sea level

#107 You burn more calories sleeping then watching TV

#108 Licking a stamp burns 10 calories

#109 Smelling apples and/or bananas can help you lose weight

#110 Frogs never drink

#111 Only male turkeys gobble

#112 At birth, a Dalmation is always pure white

#113 The fastest recorded speed of a racehorse was over 43 mph

#114 The oldest known animal was a tortoise, which lived to be 152 years old

#115 Bamboo makes up 99% of a panda's diet

#116 The largest fish is the whale shark - It can be over 50 feet long and weigh 2 tons

#117 The starfish is the only animal that can turn its stomach inside out

#118 Honeybees are the only insects that create a form of food for humans

#119 The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards

#120 The only continent without native reptiles or snakes is Antarctica

#121 The only bird that can swim and not fly is a penguin

#122 A duck can't walk without bobbing its head

#123 Beavers were once the size of bears

#124 Seals sleep only one and a half minutes at a time