Whale sharks, or the [Rhincodon typus] (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19488/0), are the largest fish specie in the world
According to the Large Marine Vertebrate Project's ([LAMAVE] (https://www.facebook.com/lamaveproject/?fref=nf)) study on the [biology of whale shark] (http://www.lamave.org/whale-shark-biology/), the largest whale shark on record was reported at a Taiwanese fishery in 1987, measuring 20 meters in total length and weighing 34 tons. The second largest shark measuring 18.8 meters in total length was found at an Indian fishery in 2001.
Image via Kwik News
They grow up to 20 meters, reach maturity at more than 9 meters long, and live to be a century old. They are an iconic known [extant] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neontology) species which means that they are totally harmless to people.
On 8 July, the International Union for Conservation of Nature ([IUCN] (http://www.iucn.org/)) revealed that the growing human pressure on whale sharks are putting the species (including winghead sharks and Bornean orangutans) at an increasing risk of extinction
"**Whale sharks and winghead sharks are now listed as Endangered and Bornean orangutans as Critically Endangered – only one step from going extinct,**" according to a [report] (http://www.iucn.org/news/whale-sharks-winghead-sharks-and-bornean-orangutans-slide-towards-extinction) by IUCN.
**Swimming with the marine species is one of the 'marine pressures' that IUCN has been warning about.** In fact, some licensed boats in the Philippines and Mexico even offer tourists the opportunity to swim with the whale sharks, as shown in this short documentary by the National Geographic:
Although the conservation action in India, the Philippines. and Taiwan has ended large-scale fishing of whale sharks in these countries, they continue to be fished in other locations, including southern China and Oman
"It is alarming to see such emblematic species slide towards extinction. These new [IUCN Red List] (https://www.facebook.com/iucn.red.list/) assessments emphasise how urgent it is for the conservation community to act strategically to protect our planet's incredible diversity of life," said Jane Smart, Director of IUCN's Global Species Programme.
"**The world's oceans and forests will only continue to provide us with food and other benefits if we preserve their capacity to do so**," added Smart.
[Collective Evolution] (https://www.facebook.com/CollectiveEvolutionPage/) posted this video showing rescuers saving a whale shark in Mexico from getting tangled in a fishing net:
Image via LAMAVE
LAMAVE has said that whale sharks have been protected in the Philippines since 1998. However, active fisheries in neighboring seas such as China, pose a very real threat to these long distance sharks.
During an interview with LAMAVE, Simon Pierce, member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Shark Specialist Group and co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, said that **whale sharks are currently vulnerable to extinction which suggests that they had more than 30% decline overall**.
In addition, IUCN has just upgraded the whale shark listing into "endangered" — which means that the population is probably halved over the last few years.
"**While international whale shark trade is regulated through the species' listing on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species** ([CITES] (https://cites.org)), more needs to be done domestically to protect whale sharks at a national level," added Pierce.
Have a look at this video produced by LAMAVE to know more about the conservation [status change] (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19488/0) and how we can help save whale sharks, and the entire marine life, in our own way:
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Image via LAMAVE
