The size of the whale sharks has been a matter of debate that hasn’t settled yet. Researchers describing different sizes of these sharks are fairly common. Some of them believe the whale shark is 60 feet (18 metres) in length. However, it is not confirmed.
How Big Do Whale Sharks Get?
Until today, the proven length of the whale sharks is around 45 feet (13.7 metres). Still experts have only just come up with the precise length of 39 feet 8.5 inches (12.1 metres) long, which is the largest size of the whale shark measured in recent times.
That being said, if we take 45 feet as a yardstick to be the size of the largest whale shark, still it is a gigantic fish and it will certainly have the following features:
- The size of its gill slits would be more than 5 feet (1.5 metres);
- the maximum size of girth would be 22 feet (6.7 metres);
- a mouth measures around 6 feet (2 metres) across;
- the length of the first dorsal fin would be 4 feet (1.2 metres);
- the caudal fin has a length of 16 feet (4.8 metres);
- pectoral fins measures 8 feet (2.4 metres) in length; and
- it weighs around 13 tons (12 tonnes).
All things considered, these are just make-believe figures until someone verifies them. But one thing is for sure, whale sharks do indeed have huge size that no other fish can even come closer to.
