#open ocean

Game Note: Just make sure to watch yalls tank of air and also make sure y'all come up for air when it's going out. The amount of times I died just dealing with he basics of the game. Lmao don't do that. Also look at the directory. It is a lotta reading but I promise it does help. 😂

Whale shark

Rhincodon typus

Family: Rhincodontidae

The whale shark is a massive, gentle filter-feeding shark and the largest living fish in the world, but despite its enormous size, this docile giant is not a predator but a specialist that feeds on some of the ocean's smallest creatures.

Physical Description and Size

The whale shark has a massive, stout, cylindrical body with a broad, flattened head and a very short, squarish snout. The body coloration of this species is dark gray to gray-brown dorsally with a white or yellowish underside and is covered with a unique pattern of white or yellowish spots and transverse stripes, which are as distinctive as human fingerprints.

The distinctive features of this shark include three prominent longitudinal ridges that run along each side of the body, and an enormous mouth located nearly at the tip of the snout. The first dorsal fin is positioned behind the midbody; the tail fin is crescent-shaped with a longer upper lobe and no subterminal notch. Its teeth are very small and numerous, but play no role in feeding, as the whale shark is a filter feeder.

Size and Weight: ◦ Length: Maximum size remains uncertain, but lengths of up to 18.3 meters have been reported as credible, while a common length is 10 to 15.5 meters. ◦ Weight: They can weigh more than 10 tons.

Distribution and Habitat

The whale shark has a circumtropical distribution, found in warm temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.

Genetic analysis shows two distinct populations: one in the Atlantic Ocean and one in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The species has been seen throughout tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In the eastern Pacific, they range from off the coast of California and Mexico to northern Chile and the Galapagos Islands.

They are epipelagic sharks that prefer open ocean waters; often in regions of upwelling, they have also been found near continental shelves and coastal aggregation sites where food is abundant.

Behavior and Diet

The whale shark is a slow-moving filter feeder that is not a top predator but a specialist on small organisms.

They swim slowly, typically at about 5 kilometers per hour, and are generally solitary but can form seasonal aggregations in areas with abundant food, and some populations migrate vast distances, timing their visits around annual plankton blooms or fish spawning events.

Whale sharks are filter feeders that use two primary feeding methods:

Active suction feeding: By rapidly opening and closing the mouth to suck water in.

Ram filter feeding: While swimming with the mouth agape, allowing water to flow in passively.

As the water enters the enormous mouth and passes over specialized filter pads located between the gill arches, the food particles are trapped while the water is expelled through the gills.

They feed primarily on small pelagic prey. Diet: ◦ Primary: Phytoplankton, zooplankton (copepods, krill), fish eggs, and crab larvae. ◦ Secondary: Small crustaceans, squid, and small schooling fishes (anchovies, herrings, and sprats).

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Whale sharks are ovoviviparous; their have an unknown gestation period and litter size, but the pups measure approximately 40 to 60 cm at birth.

Also, where whale sharks give birth remains a mystery, scientists believed they relied on coastal nursery areas., but a nine-year tagging study suggests they may give birth in the open ocean, which is unusual for sharks.

The whale shark’s life cycle and lifespan are still largely an enigma.

Relationship with Humans

Whale sharks are considered harmless to humans; they are docile, gentle giants, that are easily approached by swimmers, snorkelers, and divers, and in many locations, swimming with whale sharks is a popular ecotourism activity valued at US$1.9 billion worldwide, attracting over 25.5 million people annually at 46 sites in 23 countries. While this provides economic incentives for conservation, unregulated tourism can cause stress, behavioral changes, and boat-related injuries to the sharks.

Whale sharks are rarely kept in captivity due to their enormous size, specialized filter-feeding requirements, and need for vast amounts of space. Only a few large public aquariums such as the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan and the Georgia Aquarium in the USA have successfully housed them for extended periods.

⚠️Conservation Status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the whale shark as Endangered.

The major threats are anthropogenic (human-caused) such as overfishing, bycatch, boat strikes, habitat loss and pollution, and climate change.

Conservation Efforts: The whale shark is protected in several countries' waters, including the United States (prohibited species), Mexico (threatened status under NOM-059-SEMARNAT), Ecuador (Galapagos Marine Reserve), and the Bahamas (all sharks protected), and is listed in Appendix II of CITES, which regulates international trade.

🦈Fascinating Facts

Small fish such as remoras (suckerfish), pilot fish, and juvenile golden trevallies are often seen "hitching a ride" on whale sharks' skin, and even inside their mouths; these fish feed on parasites attached to the shark's skin, keeping the shark clean while getting free food and protection.

The presence of whale sharks indicates an abundance of plankton, which in turn reflects the overall health of the ocean. They serve as bioindicators for marine ecosystem health.

The Galapagos Marine Reserve is one of the only places in the world where the vast majority of visiting whale sharks are mature females, many of which appear pregnant. This makes Galapagos a critically important site for research into whale shark reproduction.

Shortfin mako

Isurus oxyrinchus

Family: Lamnidae (the same family as the great white shark)

The mako shark ━ name given by the Māori language ━ is known for being the fastest shark in the world. Its biological design makes it an extremely efficient apex predator.

Physical Description and Size

It's a shark with a hydrodynamic, spindle-shaped body, with metallic blue back (which helps it camouflage itself in the water) and a white underside coloration. As distinctive features, this species has: Pointed snout, large black eyes, and long, narrow, curved teeth with smooth edges, visible even when the mouth is closed.

Size and Weight: ◦ Length: Can reach up to 4.45 meters in length. ◦ Weight: The maximum recorded weight is 506 kg.

Distribution and Habitat

Inhabits temperate and tropical waters around the planet; from the Western Atlantic (Gulf of Maine [USA] to southern Brazil and Argentina), Eastern Atlantic (Norway to South Africa, including the Mediterranean Sea), Indo-Pacific (East Africa to Hawaii, and from southern Russia to Australia and New Zealand), to the Eastern Pacific (southern California to Chile)

As a pelagic species, this type of shark lives in the open ocean, although it sometimes approaches the coast. Prefers surface waters with a temperature above 16°C.

Behavior and Diet

Being a top predator situates the mako at the apex of the food chain.

It's considered the fastest shark in the world, its uninterrupted top speed has been recorded at about 50 km/h but it can reach speeds of up to 70 km/h in short bursts.

Like the great white shark, the mako can mantain the temperature of certain parts of its body (muscles and brain) above the water temperature. This allows it to be an active and effective hunter.

Diet: Specialized in capturing fast, large prey. Its diet includes: ◦ Bony fish (mackerels, tunas, and swordfish). ◦ Squid. ◦ Other smaller sharks. ◦ Dolphins, sea turtles, or porpoises (occasionally)

Reproduction and Life Cycle

With a slow life cycle, the mako are very vulnerable to overfishing.

It is ovoviviparous. The young develop inside eggs that remain in the mother's uterus. Once the pups exhaust their yolk sac, they feed on other unfertilized eggs, this process is called oophagy.

The gestation is extremely long, lasting 15 to 18 months, with a litter of 4 to 16 live pups, which measure between 60 and 70 cm at birth.

As a result of the long gestation, females reproduce only every 3 years. Also, they mature late. Males reach maturity around the age of 8 years, while females mature closer to 18-20 years with a maximum lifespan of 30-32 years

Relationship with Humans

It is considered a potentially dangerous species to humans. It is an aggressive and powerful shark, responsible for some unprovoked attacks on swimmers and small boats. It is known to jump violently out of the water when hooked. Because of that, it's a highly valued species in sport fishing for its jumping ability and fight, and commercially, its meat is appreciated for its high quality, and its fins are used for soup. Its jaws and teeth are also sold as trophies.

⚠️Conservation Status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the shortfin mako as "Endangered" globally. Its main threat is fishing, both targeted and incidental (by gillnets and longliners), due to the high demand for its fins (for soup) and its meat.

Conservation Efforts: The most significant development occurred in November 2025 at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), when fishing nations agreed to a 50% reduction in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the South Atlantic shortfin mako population, setting the new limit at 1,000 metric tons annually. In a major step forward, Mexico (a key shark fishing nation) adopted national regulations in October 2025 that ban the retention of shortfin makos caught incidentally in longline fisheries operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Under these rules, any shortfin makos caught must be released immediately in the best possible condition to maximize their chances of survival.

🦈Fascinating Facts

It is clearly the fastest shark. Continuous speeds of 50 km/h are common, and it can reach bursts of up to 70–80 km/h Some estimates suggest it could even reach 100 km/h in short bursts.

Makos are famous for their spectacular, high-flying leaps out of the water. They have been recorded jumping to heights of 6 meters above the surface; they perform multiple spins, twists, and flips. This is often a hunting technique to dislodge a hooked fish or to catch prey near the surface.

Unlike the triangular, serrated teeth of a great white, the mako's teeth are long, narrow, and smooth-edged. They are shaped like curved needles or daggers, perfect for piercing and holding onto fast, slippery prey like tuna or squid, rather than sawing through blubber or shells.

The "oophagy" process is a form of intrauterine cannibalism. The strongest embryo in each uterus will literally eat its weaker siblings to survive. This ensures that only the strongest, most aggressive pups are born, ready to hunt from day one.