The whale shark, the largest fish in the world, is characterised by its pattern of spots located around its gills, massive body that is grey in colour, and wide mouth that can measure up to 1 metre. Each whale shark has a unique pattern of spots; thereby allowing experts to identify individual whale sharks. Another interesting fact about this marine animal is that its skeleton is composed of cartilage, unlike other fishes which have bony skeletons. Despite its huge size, they are actually very gentle creatures. In fact, Eco tourists can snorkel alongside them without being harmed.
They can be found in tropical seas across the world because they prefer living in warm waters. However, they do not inhabit the Mediterranean Sea. During spring, they typically migrate to Australia’s central west coast. As for their diet, their favourite food is plankton, but they also consume krill, fishes, fish eggs, and small squids. A female whale shark can produce over 300 babies at once, which only reach sexual maturity in their early 30s and may live for a hundred years.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the whale shark is classified as Endangered. Some of the threats to this species include accidental bycatch, capturing, mortality due to vessel strikes, and marine pollution.
- Handcrafted in Philippines
- Extremely lifelike
- Suitable for ages 3+
- Measures
Hansa Toys stand apart from the competition because of the quality, attention to detail, and pin point accuracy of specific animal characteristics that are used in each production. Artists create each Hansa animal from portraits of the creature in its natural habitat. Hansa meticulously hand-cuts and trims the coats of each animal, never by machine, and they get specially trained Hansa artisans to create the subtle coloring on the animals by hand painting or airbrushing. On average, there are 42 separate pieces required to make each animal.
Some animals have as many as 240 different parts!
