Where can you find plush toy Whale Sharks? Right here at the Animals N More Oceanarium. And you can purchase these fine Whale Shark plush toys at our sponsor's online gift shop: www.jeanniescottage.com The small blue Whale Shark plush toy is from Wild Republic. The large blue Whale Shark is from Wild Republic. The striped blue whale shark at right is Decker from Douglas Cuddle Toys.
Whale sharks (Rhiniodontidae) weigh up to 20 tons and are the world's largest fish. They can be anywhere from 15 to 35 feet long with a maximum length of 50 feet.
Although they have many teeth, they are all small and nonfunctional. Just like the largest whales, they like to eat tiny marine life called plankton. They swim along with their mouths wide open, swallowing water and filtering out those delicious little animals on their sievelike gill rakers that line their gills.
The Bible claims that Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and nights. Obviously he was not alive, but was revived after the fish spit him out. That was why Jesus referenced this story when he said he would be in the belly of the Earth for three days and nights. The whale shark is as large as a whale and is a fish, so perhaps it was a whale shark that swallowed Jonah. Whale sharks do not eat people, but with those huge gaping jaws while eating plankton, perhaps Jonah was just accidentally swallowed. With God, all things are possible.
The slightly smaller Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) gets food in a similar way, straining out food with its stiff gill rakers. They are considered part of the mackerel shark family. The Basking Shark has a streamlined shape and a more northerly range than the whale shark.
