Khor Fakkah, Sharjah: Fishermen here saved a whale shark after the “gentle giant” was tangled up in a fine-mesh fishing net.

The rescue took place around 8am on Thursday (February 9, 2023).

These huge creatures can grow up to several metres long — the largest confirmed individual whale shark had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft).

The mouth opens up to 1.4 meters wide but it feeds only on krill and plankton. Despite their size, and contrary to popular belief that sharks are ferocious creatures, the biggest of them all is known as a “gentle giant”.