Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish. They are named for both their large size and habit of filter feeding like some whales. I unfortunately had to crop the tail off the lower shark because of Instagram’s squareness, but no sharks were harmed in the making of this photo. Though I have done some underwater photography, I’ve never had the opportunity to see these sharks in the wild. I wanted to be an ichthyologist since childhood (I traded this goal in college for studying monkeys because as everyone knows nothing is more fun than a barrel of them) so I was thrilled having a chance to see these gentle giants at the aquarium.