Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme

Researcher: Richard Rees
South Ari Atoll, Maldives

www.maldiveswhalesharkresearch.org
The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) is a UK registered charity that exists to conduct whale shark research and foster community focused conservation initiatives throughout the Maldives and the Indian Ocean.

 

 

Proyecto Domino

Researcher: Rafael de la Parra
Cancun, Mexico

www.domino.conanp.gob.mx
Proyecto Domino was established in 2003 as the "Mexican Atlantic Whale Shark Study, Conservation and Management" in response to the development of a sustainable whale shark tourism industry. Tour operators, authorities, researchers and social organizations now collaborate in an effort to better understand the whale shark aggregation that takes place in the Mexican Caribbean and Gulf each year between May and September.

 

 

The Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna

Researcher: Dr. Simon Pierce
Tofo Beach, Mozambique

www.marinemegafauna.org
The Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna (FPMM) was created in 2009 to research, protect and conserve the large populations of marine megafauna found along the Mozambican coastline.

 

 

Utila Whale Shark Research

Researcher: Steve Fox
Utila, Honduras

www.utilawhalesharkresearch.com
The Utila Whale Shark Research Project is managed locally by the staff of Deep Blue Utila and data collected from visiting divers and snorkelers and from local fisherman. The Project’s objective is to make all results available for local conservation efforts and to ensure their validity through peer review and publication.

 

 

 WWF PHILIPPINES

Researcher: David David, Embet Guadamor
Donsol, Philippines

http://www.wwf.org.ph/newsfacts.php?pg=det&id=102
WWF is documenting the sharks through a simple, but effective tool. Every day, WWF researcher Dave David dives with the sharks and photographs their gills. He then enters the photographs into a global whale shark database and compares each photograph with others by carefully aligning the gills and then comparing the spot patterns.  He then determines if it is a new sighting or an existing one because a whale shark’s distinctive spots are like a human fingerprint – no two are alike. In fact, anybody who photographs a whale shark can enter their photo into the ECOCEAN database.

 

Partner Individuals

Researcher: Alan Duncan
Koh Phangan, Thailand

www.the-diveinn.com/categoryspecies/whale-sharks-identified-ecocean-project
Alan Duncan works to identify all whale shark reported from the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.

 

Researcher: : Dr. Eric Hoffmayer
Northern Gulf of Mexico, USA

www.usm.edu/gcrl/whaleshark/index.php
Dr. Hoffmayer heads a research effort to understand the basic biology, behavior, and movement patterns of whale shark in the northern Gulf of Mexico.