Bill and Mermaid Melissa are back swimming together again! This time we're taking a look at Whale Sharks in Mexico! #mermaids #whalesharks #Mexico
IMPORTANT LINKS
Mermaid Melissa's Youtube channel [ Ссылка ]
Simon Pierce's webpage [ Ссылка ]
Rafeal De La Parra Webpagem [ Ссылка ]
Acua-Firma Webpage [ Ссылка ]
THE STORY
Hey guys, Bill here…If you recall, The last time I swam with Mermaid Melissa, I learned a whole bunch of things about Manatees that I didn’t know before. You remember that? So cool. Well guess what, we’re going to swim again, and this time we’re going for something a little bigger… well actually, a lot bigger… Whale sharks….
Today, I am heading north from the island of Isla Mujeres just off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. With me is a small map to where Mermaid Melissa will meet me and two of the best whale shark experts I know, Simon Pierce and Rafael De La Parra. They know these waters like the back of their hand.
This won’t be the first time I swim with whale sharks, but it will be the first time I swim with a mermaid around whale sharks. I’m really looking forward to hearing what a mermaid melissa knows about these amazing ocean creatures…
The biggest whale shark on record according to simon, is 18.7 meters or about 60 feet. Scientists estimate they weigh up to 47 thousand pounds or about 22 tons!
Whale sharks are technically a shark they are not a whale - they breath through their gills -- not a blow hole like a whale.
A lot of people are scared by these creatures but they are actually pretty harmless… They only eat really small things like Plankton and Krill.. What they are actually eating here are Tuna eggs.
The closest living relative to a whale shark is a nurse shark. But whereas Nurse sharks are 400 million years old, whale sharks are estimated to be only 40 million years old.
Whale sharks are very deep divers.. They have been measured to dive down to 2000 meters or about 6000 feet.
I couldn’t believe how many whale sharks we were encountering. But despite all their numbers here.. Scientists estimate their population is only 20 to 50% of what it used to be.
Unfortunately, whale sharks were placed on the endangered species list in 2016 but there are many scientists who are working very hard to make sure they don’t go extinct.
Lots of people like to swim with whale sharks which is fine… but don’t touch them. Respect their space.
If you want to learn more about whale sharks, go to the webpages of Simon Pierce and Rafael De La Parra listed above!
If you want to swim with whale sharks, visit Acua Firma listed above!
Have a nice day!
