Unknown Terror

The BP oil spill was big news for a long time. We heard about how the oil spill was bad for the environment and how it killed innocent fish; normal fish are very common. I’m not saying we shouldn’t feel bad about those fish, however, what you didn’t hear about was how the oil spill affected sharks in the Gulf, specifically whale sharks. Whale sharks are not only the biggest species of sharks, but the largest living shark. While they are huge, they are some of the least ferocious. Whale sharks eat plankton and small fish like sardines. In order to eat these small creatures, a whale shark must swim with its large mouth wide open. When there are fish in front of its mouth, they go in with the water. The water goes out the gills and the prey gets caught by sponge-like filters at the gills. This is called filter feeding, done by Basking Sharks as well. In order to eat the vast quantity the whale shark needs to sustain itself, the whale shark swims on the surface quite often; where the plankton congregate. However, on the surface floats oil. So, when a whale shark is feeding, it sucks in oil as well as water and its prey. Oil gets stuck in the spongey filters because it is too thick to go through the gills like the water. When there is enough built up in their gills, the shark cannot get oxygen from the water. Without oxygen, the shark will die. The oil spill has affected more creatures than many know. Whale sharks are already on the vulnerable list. The oil spill only puts them closer to the endangered list.