ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how whale sharks, as large ectothermic filter feeders, approach life in the low-productivity waters of the tropics and sub-tropics. We outline the foraging strategies that whale sharks use to find patchy prey and examine the senses involved with picking up prey cues. We describe how whale sharks feed, and how their suction-feeding ability – unique among plankton-feeding elasmobranchs – influences the different feeding behaviors used by whale sharks. We also discuss observations that indicate whale sharks are less concerned with the species composition or size of their prey, but instead switch from foraging (searching) to concentrated feeding behavior in patches of high prey biomass. Methods of studying whale shark diet are explained, and we discuss our current knowledge of their diet. Finally, we consider the ecological role of whale sharks, as both a consumer and prey species themselves, and how they store and transport energy through the marine environment.
