Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.
Imagine five cars parked behind one another. That’s approximately how long this fish is. Growing up to 18 metres in length, it is considered as the world’s largest fish. It has a distinctive pattern of white spots which are unique to each individual, much like a human fingerprint.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeder found along India’s entire coastline, with the largest aggregation off Gujarat’s coast. It plays a role in maintaining the marine food chain by regulating plankton and small fish populations.
Whale sharks are present worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate waters. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the whale shark is listed as endangered due to global population decline. In India, it has the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
It faces multiple pressures, including lethal ship collisions, bycatch in fishing gear, and, in the past, targeted hunting for meat and fins. Warming oceans due to climate change, offshore drilling and coastal construction are also shifting their food sources and altering habitats. These pressures have led to its population shrinking by half in the last 75 years.
In recent years, however, community-driven conservation efforts along India’s west coast have helped reduce bycatch-related deaths, though other threats still loom. In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2025, Sajan John, the head of marine projects at Wildlife Trust of India, said, “Earlier, the whale sharks died tangled in gear. Now, they’re released alive before they reach shore. It’s a complete reversal.”
There’s even an app that allows fishers in Gujarat to easily document whale sharks that get caught in fishing nets. This helps them receive compensation for their loss of revenue during the downtime without nets.
Read more about this mobile-based whale shark rescue app, increasing strandings, and community conservation efforts in our stories.
Banner image: A whale shark in an aquarium in Japan. Image by Kimon Berlin via Flickr (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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