21st century skills library 4 The Gentle Giants chapter 1 Imagine swimming at the beach when you hear someone shout Shark What would you think What would you do Sharks are usually thought of as killers with swift bodies and sharp teeth But that is not true for whale sharks They are slow-moving gentle animals They are harmless to people How did whale sharks get their name One reason is their huge size The blue whale is the largest animal on earth Although not as large as blue whales whale sharks are still giants of the sea They can grow as long as a
exploring our oceans 5 The whale shark is the biggest fish in the ocean school bus They can weigh more than three African elephants Whale sharks definitely deserve their title of world’s largest fish Sharks are fish and whales are mammals Second whale sharks have the same way of eating as many whales They take in great gulps of water filter out the tiny animals in it and eat them This is called filter feeding Whale sharks are found in the warm ocean waters near the equator They can be found in shallow water
21st century skills library 6 close to coasts islands and reefs They also swim in deep open ocean water Whale sharks can dive deeper than 1 mile 1 6 km below the surface After plunging into deep chilly waters they often visit sunny surface South America North America Africa Europe Australia Asia RANGE OF WHALE SHARK ARCTIC OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN INDIAN OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN range map Whale sharks avoid colder waters near the poles
exploring our oceans 7 think about it Read this chapter closely What is one of its main ideas Provide two points from the text that support this waters to warm up Like most fish whale sharks are cold-blooded They cannot keep their bodies warm without moving to a warmer place like shallow water Whale sharks swim great distances One whale shark swam 5,000 miles 8,047 km in 150 days That is farther than traveling the entire length of South America Scientists think whale sharks migrate along regular routes that may take years to complete But scientists do not yet know the exact pathways Researchers are studying whale sharks in their own regions Then they share their results with other scientists around the world By doing this researchers hope to build a complete picture of where whale sharks go what they do and how they live
