Species profile
Rhincodon typus
Whale shark
EN · Endangered — Endangered — very high risk of extinction in the wild
About this species
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is part of the curated SpeciesWatch catalogue and is classified as Endangered. The whale shark is the largest fish alive — up to 12 metres long — yet it is a gentle filter-feeder that sieves plankton and small fish from the water. Its recorded population direction is decreasing, so the category needs to be read alongside continuing losses of individuals or local populations.
Habitat, behaviour and ecological role
This profile associates the species with marine, pelagic, coastal. These labels summarise environments used during different stages of its life rather than drawing an exact range boundary. Every whale shark carries a unique checkerboard pattern of spots; researchers photograph them like fingerprints to track individuals across oceans. Its anatomy and behaviour are responses to those environments, while movement can connect distant places requiring different forms of management.
Why this species is at risk
Whale sharks can dive to nearly 2,000 metres and are thought to live 80 to 130 years, yet we still know little about where they give birth. The catalogue records 4 principal pressures for this profile: Bycatch, Targeted fishing, Vessel strikes, Habitat degradation. They should not be treated as isolated causes. Habitat change, exploitation, pollution, disease and climate stress can reinforce one another, while the importance of each pressure varies between regions and through time.
Conservation outlook
Protecting and reconnecting habitat is a priority, together with infrastructure planning that keeps feeding, breeding or migration routes functional. Fishery management needs enforceable limits, more selective gear, bycatch reduction and coordinated compliance across jurisdictions. Actions need long-term monitoring and revision as evidence changes; a positive intervention in one place does not by itself represent recovery across the species.
Editorial review: 2026-08-21
Threat factors
Known occurrences
Dots are georeferenced occurrence records from OBIS (marine) and GBIF (global), not individual animals and not a complete range map. Up to 500 recent API results are cached; the profile renders at most 500 points.
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Stories connected to this species
Editorial context connecting this profile to climate, habitat and human activity.