Hiya folks, I’m Rhincodon typus, but you can call me “Whale Shark.”
That’s a pretty funny name, isn’t it? (Go ahead and laugh a spell). Am I a whale, or am I a shark?
Well, don’t get scared, but I’m definitely a shark! (About the nicest you’ll meet! I love swimming with you guys!)
They call me a “whale” because I’m the biggest-ass fish in the ocean, with some of us said to stretch 15 meters and weigh 30 tons! Wow!
But I’m not here today to tell talk about myself – just one part of me. My fins.
Kind of like you need your legs to walk, I need this here fin to swim around.
Here are some fun facts:
- Shark fins are pretty stiff with cartilage and come in five varieties
- We’ve got pectoral fins that lift us as we swim.
- Pelvic fins keep us stable, so we don’t swim crazy, all upside down!
- Our famous “dorsal” fins also keep us upright.
- Our caudal or tail fins move us forward.
- I’ve got one more fin special to big guys like me, you call it our “anal fin!” How fun is that!?
What I’m trying to say is, we REALLY need these things. You cut’em off, we sink to the bottom and drown.
And be honest, they taste pretty shitty in soup! So next time you go to grandma’s house and she offers a bowl of this stuff, just say “No, thanks!”
Don’t believe me? Take it from beloved adventurer and entrepreneur Richard Branson!
Thanks, Richard!
— Sharky
Photos: Christian Jensen
Shark fins dry in the sun cover the roof of a factory building in Hong Kong on Jan. 2, 2013. Photo: AFP
Got it? Now watch the latest from Coconuts TV!
