Well, though a whale is also a long term investors of the market, but I won't put it that way. Whales are big movers. They are large investors who holds a very large portion of a coin. In Bitcoin we have sometimes seen some whales move huge amounts of BTC to different addresses. These address might have been dominant for years but then a sudden move to another address. It still requires time and patience, I'll agree with you on that. But then starters, you don't have to worry your self that much about being a whale or fish and many as you mentioned. Just buy your BTC and hold for the long term. Continue accumulating during dips or using dca and with time when the market pays off, you will also enjoy from the profits of holding.