WHALE SHARKS
These gentle giants have been visiting La Paz for centuries. The Sheltered bay of La Paz is a refuge for juvenile Whale Sharks. The animals migrate to La Paz arriving in October and leaving around end of April. The activity is controlled by the Mexican Environment Agency, in collaboration with the local community. The practise has become more and more sustainable over the years.
The Government only allows 14 boats a day to enter the Whale Shark zone. With this in mind we need to have your reservation as early as possible. At 8am the morning of your trip the Environment agency will designate the time we can enter the area. We are then allowed 3 hours to snorkel with the animals.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter feeding animals and the largest known of fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft).[9] The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate v. It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae, which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984 it was classified as Rhiniodon into Rhinodontidae.
The whale shark is found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in water below 21 °C (70 °F). Studies looking at vertebral growth bands and the growth rates of free-swimming sharks have estimated whale shark lifespans at 80–130 years. Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and pose no threat to humans.
The Government only allows 14 boats a day to enter the Whale Shark zone. With this in mind we need to have your reservation as early as possible. At 8am the morning of your trip the Environment agency will designate the time we can enter the area. We are then allowed 3 hours to snorkel with the animals.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter feeding animals and the largest known of fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft).[9] The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate v. It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae, which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984 it was classified as Rhiniodon into Rhinodontidae.
The whale shark is found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in water below 21 °C (70 °F). Studies looking at vertebral growth bands and the growth rates of free-swimming sharks have estimated whale shark lifespans at 80–130 years. Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and pose no threat to humans.
