Shark-Mounted Cameras Show Whale Sharks Feed 70 Meters Deep Using 36 Behaviors
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Jul 30
Shark-Mounted Cameras Show Whale Sharks Feed 70 Meters Deep Using 36 Behaviors
3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Jul 30
Summary
Researchers tracking juvenile whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef found the animals forage throughout the water column and along the seafloor, reaching depths of 70 meters rather than feeding mainly at the surface.
Camera tags left on for 24 hours paired point-of-view footage with movement data, letting scientists observe what surface snorkeling and boat surveys had missed once the sharks dived out of sight.
Video analysis plus a review of more than 100 studies produced the largest whale shark behavior catalog yet, defining 36 behaviors and showing six low-effort feeding tactics dominated most of their time.
Those patterns suggest whale sharks often feed opportunistically in patchy tropical waters, switching from low-energy "snacking" to active pursuit when they encounter dense krill swarms.
The study covered one coastal aggregation of juvenile sharks in Western Australia, and researchers said more camera deployments worldwide are needed as climate change may make prey even less reliable.