A 32 foot long whale shark weighing approximately 5-7 tons was washed up on the Content beach in St David’s last week Sunday. As news spread throughout Content and surrounding areas, residents and passersby crowded the beach-front to see for themselves the gigantic creature.

According to Dr. Raymond Tarpley, Professor of Pre-Clinical Study, Veterinary School at St George’s University based on preliminary examinations it appears that the creature is not an old one.

He said that they have not yet been able to determine the cause of death, however it is their belief that the whale shark did not choke to death.

Dr. Tarpley said that samples from the whale shark has been sent to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida in the United States to assist them in getting specific data on the creature. According to information posted on the internet about this species of fish, the whale shark was first identified in 1828 off the coast of South Africa.

The name “Whale shark” comes from the sharks’ large size. It inhabits the world’s tropical and warm-temperate oceans and is solitary and rarely seen in groups. The whale shark is believed to be migratory, but experts remain unclear as to how far migrations can occur (transoceanic migrations have been suggested).

The greatest size accurately recorded was 12 meters (39 ft) long, with unofficial accounts of 18 meters (59 ft). The creature is not to be confused with the Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), the second largest fish.

A member of the order Orectolobiformes, it is a filter feeder. The shark has a capacious mouth which can be up to 1.5 m (5 ft) wide and contain up to 300 rows of tiny teeth. As part of its feeding process, it also has five large pairs of gill arches.

Two small eyes are located towards the front of the shark’s wide, flat head. The body is mostly grey with a white belly; three prominent ridges run along each side of the animal and the skin is marked with a ‘checkerboard’ of pale yellow spots and stripes. The shark has two pairs each of dorsal fins and pectoral fins.

A juvenile whale shark’s tail has a greater top fin than lower fin while the adult tail becomes semi-lunate, or crescent-shaped. The shark’s spiracles are just behind the eyes. The whale shark is not an efficient swimmer; the entire body is in motion while the animal swims. The result of this motion, one that is very unusual for sharks, is an average speed of around 5 km/h.

The capture of a pregnant female in 1995 containing 300 young whale sharks indicates that they are viviparous with ovoviviparous development. The eggs remain in the body and the females give birth to live 40 to 60 cm young.

It is believed that they reach sexual maturity at around 30 years and the life span has been estimated to be between 60 and 150 years.