(Fig. 4). For example, on 12 May 1998, we
observed from a boat 5 whale sharks circling a
large school of cubera snapper that were
spawning just below the sea surface. These
whale sharks lifted their upper jaw above the
sea surface, gulping in water, milky white with
fish spawn. An examination of video footage
shot from the surface on 5 April 1999 revealed
that most sharks feeding at the surface maintained
a forward motion while feeding. The
top of their upper jaw was kept above the
water surface, and the inside of the top of their
mouth was just at the surface. Two whale
sharks were filmed swimming in this manner,
leaving their jaws above the surface for 12 and
13 s, respectively. On each of the 5 evenings
that we witnessed this behavior, darkness
halted observations while surface feeding was
still continuing.