The Greatest Aquarium

My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and I ended our wonderful summer vacation a few weeks ago by going to China and visiting Chinelong Ocean Park, in Shenzen.  One of the great features was the massive aquarium.  Here are some facts and pictures to wow you:

Whale Shark Exhibit Aquarium – Allegedly the world's largest aquarium featuring 4 whale sharks, manta rays, corals, and many other species. At the time of its opening, it also had the largest aquarium window in the world according to the Guinness World Records, a single acrylic panel measuring 39.6 by 8.3 m (130 by 27 ft).^[6] The window has now been succeeded by the Cube Aquarium in Chengdu.
As the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more, whale sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Fortunately for most sea-dwellers—and us!—their favorite meal is plankton. They scoop these tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish that happen to be around, with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water's surface.
Feeding
The whale shark, like the world's second largest fish, the basking shark, is a filter feeder. In order to eat, the beast juts out its formidably sized jaws and passively filters everything in its path.  The mechanism is theorized to be a technique called “cross-flow filtration,” similar to some bony fish and baleen whale.

Did you know?

The largest whale shark ever measured was 40 feet (12.2 meters) long; however, the species is thought to grow even bigger.

Size relative to a bus:

The following pictures are of Whale Sharks feeding in the Aquarium.  Some dingys loaded with food were pulled out at the top of the water and the Whale Sharks swam up to feed.  Other fish circled the whale sharks looking for scraps.  It was an amazing sight;

Amazing.

Have a great week everyone.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk