Testimonial
Rich Horner
Why did i leave Alton\'s??? I should have stayed! Really excellent setup they have, right on the water, with dorms within spitting distance of the dive boat! (handy in the mornings after the night before) The staff/instructors/DMs are really good, knowlegable and happy! (a good sign!) Ticked off almost all the fishes in their waters and quite a few of the islands many, many dive sites, but my favourite was Ron\'s Wreck for sure! ;) I know i\'m gonna be back in Alton\'s one day... To catch the whalesharks that were hiding from me, and looking forward to the tea & biscuits onboard the boat! ;) Blub blub Rich.)
Why does the whale shark have such large gill slits?
Because it is a filter feeder. The whale shark's gills have two functions; in addition to extracting oxygen from seawater the gills filter tiny planktonic organisms on which the shark feeds. When a whale shark is feeding it pumps large volumes of water over its gills and out of it's gill slits. The shark's gills have very fine gill rakers which function as sieves and strain plankton from the water.

Whale shark gills start at end the of the pectoral fins on both sides.
There are 5 gill slits containing 5 gill arches.
All carpet sharks also have a Spiracle, this is an aide to respiration and used to be a gill.



 
Feature Products
Beginner to Advanced Combo Pack
Beginner to Advanced Combo Pack
$578    Add to Cart
12 Nitrox Dive Pack
12 Nitrox Dive Pack
$478    Add to Cart