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The world largest fish eats microscopic plankton through specialized gill rakers. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Ocean, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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Mondo Knows Facts

Whale sharks filter thousands of tonnes of water every day

The world largest fish eats microscopic plankton through specialized gill rakers.

Despite reaching lengths over twelve metres, whale sharks are gentle filter feeders that pose no danger to humans. Swimming with their huge mouths open, spongy mesh pads inside their gill arches strain plankton, krill, and small fish out of sea water.

Male whale shark at Georgia Aquarium — Zac Wolf · CC BY-SA 2.5 · licence · source

Where this comes from

Smithsonian Ocean

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Tags: whale-shark, fish, ocean

Whale sharks filter thousands of tonnes of water every day: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The world largest fish eats microscopic plankton through specialized gill rakers. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Ocean, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a animals fact?: Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.