Whale sharks. Part 3 of the DVD, "Reef Life of the Andaman", available at http://www.bubblevision.com/marine-li... or view the whole 2-hour video at    • Reef Life of the Andaman (full marine...  

The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is the world's largest fish. Although huge, the whale shark is a gentle, placid fish. Here we encounter a female whale shark at Thailand's Richelieu Rock, north of the Similan Islands. We then meet a young whale shark at Burma's Mergui Archipelago.

Whale sharks are sought after for their fins which are used in shark fin soup in Chinese restaurants, or merely used to advertise the availability of shark fin soup. They are therefore vulnerable to fishing pressures and face an uncertain future unless the culture changes.

The following closed captions/subtitles are available by clicking the CC button under the video:

NARRATION / COMMENTARY:
- English
- German (Deutscher Kommentar)
- Spanish (Narración en Español)

MARINE LIFE & DIVE SITE NAMES
- Dutch (Nederlandse Namen)
- English
- German (Deutsche Bezeichnungen)
- Thai ( ชื่อภาษาไทย & จุดดำน้ำ )

Please get in touch with me if you would like to help translate the narration or marine life names into other languages.

I have more scuba diving videos and underwater footage on my website at:
http://www.bubblevision.com

I post updates about my videos, and interesting underwater videos from other filmmakers here:
  / bubblevision  
  / nicholashope  

The video was shot by Nick Hope with a Sony VX2000 DV camera in a Gates housing. It was edited in Sony Vegas Pro then deinterlaced with QTGMC and upscaled to 720p HD in AviSynth.

Thanks to Mark Ellison for the music track, "Freefall Into The Blue". Thanks to Santana Diving of Phuket (http://www.santanaphuket.com), and in particular Horst Hinrichs for the thumbnail image of me filming the juvenile whale shark near Western Rocky Island. Thanks to Elfi and Uli Erfort and Daniel Bruehwiler for help with the German translation, and to Frank Nelissen for the Dutch subtitles.

Sharks and dive sites featured in this video:

00:00 Tawny Nurse Shark, Nebrius ferrugineus, Burma Banks
00:11 Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, Richelieu Rock
03:18 Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, Mergui Archipelago
04:21 Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, Richelieu Rock
04:51 Grey Reef Shark, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, Mergui Archipelago