Sharkbook: Wildbook for Sharks

Location

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Water depth: Unknown

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Identity

Identified as: A-125

Matched by: Unknown

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Contact Information

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Metadata

Number: 116200462415

Date created:	2004-05-30
Date last edited:	2008-12-14

Workflow state: approved

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Managing researcher:

Jason Holmberg

Affiliation: Wild Me

Research Project: Wildbook

Web site

"Jason is a founder of Wildbook for Whale Sharks and its Information Architect."

Measurements

Type	Size	Units
Length	7.5	Meters
Water Temperature		Celsius

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Length	(Meters)
Water Temperature	(Celsius)

Tracking

Metal Tags

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Acoustic Tag

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Satellite Tag

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Date

Unknown
Verbatim Event Date: None

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Gallery

Attributes

Taxonomy Rhincodon typus

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Status: alive

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Sex: unknown

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Noticeable scarring: Right pectoral fin

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Behavior: None

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Group Role: None

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Additional comments:
This shark was tagged, on its left side, right next to the first (front) dorsal fin, as you can see in one of the pictures that I've included. Also, in the picture I've included where the pectoral fin scarring is visible you can see another swimmer. Perhaps this will help you make a guess as to the shark's size. I was on a "whale shark viewing" trip from Coral Bay, if you need a more specific location I can contact the tour operator and perhaps they would have a record of exactly where we were that day. Heading straight back to Coral Bay after seeing the shark took us about an hour. There was another boat by the shark when we arrived, so we waited for them to finish before we got in the water. But while swimmers from the other boat were in the water the shark dove. The other boat left, and we hung around a bit, but no shark. Then our skipper started up the engines, and a moment later the shark surfaced, immediately behind the boat. One of our guides hypothesized that it was attracted to the bubbles stirred up by the propellers, maybe thinking they were krill. Just thought I'd mention that in case it was relevant. The last picture I've included (F1000020.JPG) is a terrible picture, but I thought it might be helpful because it shows how close the shark came to our boat when it surfaced. I was standing on the boat when I took this shot, and you can see the head and snorkel of a swimmer who was sitting on the dive platform. We were in the water with the shark maybe 20 minutes or so, and the whole time we were there it stayed right by the surface and swam slowly enough that it was easy to keep up.
I hope this information helps you! Swimming with this shark was just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced.

Edit Submitted Comments

This shark was tagged, on its left side, right next to the first (front) dorsal fin, as you can see in one of the pictures that I've included.  Also, in the picture I've included where the pectoral fin scarring is visible you can see another swimmer.  Perhaps this will help you make a guess as to the shark's size.  I was on a "whale shark viewing" trip from Coral Bay, if you need a more specific location I can contact the tour operator and perhaps they would have a record of exactly where we were that day.  Heading straight back to Coral Bay after seeing the shark took us about an hour.  There was another boat by the shark when we arrived, so we waited for them to finish before we got in the water.  But while swimmers from the other boat were in the water the shark dove.  The other boat left, and we hung around a bit, but no shark.  Then our skipper started up the engines, and a moment later the shark surfaced, immediately behind the boat.  One of our guides hypothesized that it was attracted to the bubbles stirred up by the propellers, maybe thinking they were krill.  Just thought I'd mention that in case it was relevant.  The last picture I've included (F1000020.JPG) is a terrible picture, but I thought it might be helpful because it shows how close the shark came to our boat when it surfaced.  I was standing on the boat when I took this shot, and you can see the head and snorkel of a swimmer who was sitting on the dive platform.  We were in the water with the shark maybe 20 minutes or so, and the whole time we were there it stayed right by the surface and swam slowly enough that it was easy to keep up.
<br>I hope this information helps you!  Swimming with this shark was just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced.

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Observations

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Encounter of A-125