Longest recorded whale shark migration eclipses 20,000 kilometers

by Mongabay.com on 14 May 2018

Scientists followed the movements of a whale shark for nearly two and a half years as she swam more than 20,000 kilometers (over 12,000 miles) from the coast of Central America to the Marianas Trench near Asia.

Whale sharks, whose numbers have dropped by more than half in the past 75 years according to the IUCN, are taken by fishing boats for their fins, cartilage, meat and teeth, and studies have shown that boats bringing tourists to swim with the largest fish in the ocean change the species’ behavior.

Given these threats, scientists hope studies such as this one will help guide conservation policy aimed at protecting these animals throughout their migrations.

A team of scientists has tracked a whale shark (Rhincodon typus) across more than 20,000 kilometers (over 12,000 miles) of ocean, the longest migration ever recorded for the species.

In 2011, the researchers attached a transmitting tag to a shark they named “Anne” in the Pacific Ocean near Panama’s Coiba Island. Over the next 841 days, Anne’s transmitter would ping the ARGOS satellite whenever she swam near the surface. Those data points allowed the team to follow her movements south to the Galapagos Islands and clear across the Pacific to the Marianas Trench south of Japan and east of the Philippines — a distance of 20,142 kilometers (12,516 miles).

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The enigmatic endangered whale shark: 22-year-long global citizen science project sheds light on these animals

Date:  November 29, 2017

Source:  Georgia Aquarium

Vital scientific information about whale shark behavior, biology and ecology is being uncovered by an unlikely source -- ecotourists and other citizens. Thanks to modern advancements in technology and the burgeoning field of "citizen science," new information about gregarious and mysterious whale sharks is being revealed in a study slated to publish on November 29 in BioScience.

Whale shark habitat spans the globe, making long-term research over wide geographic ranges a difficult challenge for whale shark researchers. To address this challenge, researchers harnessed modern technology, creating an online photo database called Wildbook for Whale Sharks and enlisted the help of ecotourists and citizens across the globe to upload any images of whale sharks they happened to see or encounter anywhere in the world. Photos of nearly 30,000 encounters representing 6,000 individually-identified sharks across 54 countries over 22 years has given scientists a rich data set to analyze and better understand the nature of this endangered species that has long been misunderstood and understudied.

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Chinese fisherman nets massive whale shark but, as always, there’s a catch

The question is not so much where or why a Chinese fisherman caught this massive whale shark… it is how he managed to strap it onto his tiny truck.

The picture, taken in Xianghzhi in China’s eastern Fujian province, shows local fisherman Cai Chengzhu making his way to market with his giant catch.

His truck, not usually used to carrying such a load, miraculously made it to the fish market in Shishi – but that’s where Mr Cai’s real problems started.

Whale sharks are a protected species in China, and it is an offence to buy or sell them.

So it looked more than a little fishy to officials from the Fujian fisheries department when Mr Cai turned up with the conspicuous 17ft, two-tonne fish strapped to his truck.

At first the professional fisherman claimed he did not know the giant catch was a whale shark, and when that raised a few eyebrows he added that the shark muscled its way into his fishing net to eat fish that were already caught, got caught itself, and unfortunately died.

Because it was accidentally caught and was already dead – despite Mr Cai’s undoubtedly valiant efforts to save it – he hoped fisheries officials might allow him to sell it.

If so, he had already come up with a price of between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan (£960 and £1,920).

Source

Newly discovered juvenile whale shark aggregation in Red Sea

Date:

August 4, 2014

Source:

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Summary:

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) -- which grow more than 30 feet long -- are the largest fish in the world's ocean, but little is known about their movements on a daily basis or over years. A newly discovered juvenile whale shark aggregation off Saudi Arabia is giving researchers a rare glimpse into the lives of these gentle giants.

Read on ...

Whale shark fringe migration: 16-year study suggests Azore islands may play increasing role in whale shark habitat

Date:

July 16, 2014

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

At the fringe of the whale shark range, the volcanic Azore islands may play an increasing role for the north Atlantic population as sea surface temperatures rise.

At the fringe of the whale shark range, the volcanic Azore islands may play an increasing role for the north Atlantic population as sea surface temperatures rise, according to a study published July 16, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Pedro Afonso from University of the Azores and colleagues.

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VIDEO: A Chinese Factory Is Reportedly Killing Rare Whale Sharks to Turn Them Into Lipstick

I knew there were lots of gross things in skin care products. Dyes made from beetles, aluminum, parabens: these are some of the culprits I’d (sadly) expect to hear about.

But whale sharks being used to make lipstick!?

According to WildLife Risk, a group of conservationists in Hong Kong who say they’ve undertaken a three-year investigation into the operation, the endangered fish are being processed at a Zhejiang, China plant called “China Wenzhou Yueqing Marine Organisms Health Protection Foods Co Ltd.”

Agents pay the fishermen up to $30,000 USD per shark, a huge amount for a dastardly deed.

Whale sharks, despite being the biggest species of fish known to man, don’t post much danger to humans. Like the peaceful, slow-moving whale, they feed primarily on plankton and are known even to sometimes let humans hop on their back for a ride (environmentalists, however, debate whether that’s really cool or not).

The creatures’ fins are often dried and hung in restaurant windows to attract customers. Their skins are sold as leather and used to make handbags. But, most disturbing of all is what happens to the oil in the whale shark’s liver.

Read more at

The Big Fish That Got Away… (It Was Let Go)

Nov. 13, 2013 — It's not every day that fishermen catch the world's largest fish species in their nets, but this is what recently happened in Indonesia's Karimunjawa National Park, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

While catching anchovies and small bait fish in a stationary net off the coast of Java on October 8th, a group of fishers discovered a much larger animal in their lift net -- a juvenile whale shark measuring four meters in length (more than 13 feet). The fishers were then able to quickly alert staff members from the Karimunjawa National Park Authority and WCS using a text message system first established for reporting fishing violations.

"Whale sharks have not been common in these waters over the past decade, so the appearance of this animal in a coastal net is a surprise," said Stuart Campbell of WCS's Marine Program. "Fortunately, the SMS (Short Message Service) set up to report fishery violations enabled rangers from the national park service and WCS to respond to this accidental incident fast enough to release the animal."
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Taiwan aquarium abandons captive whale shark in the sea – Strands twice

Aquarium must not be allowed to acquire a new whale shark

July 2013. Taiwan's National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium 'released' a whale shark into the wild that it had held in captivity for 8 years. The Whale shark was released with no preparation for life in the oceans, and was not tagged to enable scientists to track the animal in an effort to help it survive.

The animal had been kept in a small tank where it spent its life swimming slowly in one direction around the tank. The shark was released into the sea much too close to the shore; on release the shark continued to swim in a similar pattern to its pre-release and shortly afterwards stranded on the shoreline, not once, but twice. The shark was eventually re-floated on the first occasion thanks to efforts of the coast guard, local fishermen and conservation workers, but it is not known what happened to the animal after that. The aquarium cliamed that the animal was last seen swimming out to sea, but those who had helped rescue the animal stated that it was already badly injured, and was last seen being towed on the end of a rope out to sea by a boat - They believe it had no chance of surviving, if it wasn't already dead.

Not a release, but an abandoning

The method that was used for this so-called release appears to be that the over-riding priority was to get rid of the whale shark, with no thought given to its wellbeing.

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) have been urging the aquarium to release the captive whale shark and not to bring in new ones.

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Baby whale shark rescued from fisherman’s net off India

Whale shark pup rescue indicates possible breeding in Gujarat

May 2013. A new-born Whale shark pup that was recently freed by fishermen from nets in the Indian state of Gujarat has provided a clue that that the world's largest fish may be breeding off the coast of Gujarat. 

Whale Shark Conservation Project

The release of the Whale shark pup was reported to the Whale Shark Conservation Project team by a local fisherman. The Project, a joint venture of the Gujarat Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), has been carrying out research on the mighty fish along Gujarat coast since 2008. The fishermen said that they had not seen a Whale shark pup for over four decades. 

"We have been trying to understand ecology, behaviour and migration of the Whale sharks, after the successful Whale shark campaign that convinced fishermen to release Whale sharks caught in their nets," said Professor B.C. Choudhury, Senior Advisor to WTI. 

Credit WWF Philippines. 

Born this year

Dr Rachel Graham, renowned Whale shark expert and a member of the scientific advisory committee of the project, said, "The sighting or capture of such a young Whale shark is very rare. This particular pup looks like it was most likely born this year and the capture off the coast of Gujarat suggests that Whale sharks are pupping in the area." 

The pup was around 60 cm long, which is the size a month or two-month old pup is expected to be. Whale sharks vary greatly in size when they are born, from 33cm long around the Philippines (read here about a Whale shark pup rescued in the Philippines.) to about 55cm in Taiwanese waters. 

 http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whale-shark-pup013.html

Whale shark tourism does no harm to the sharks - Study

Love doesn't hurt - ecotourism has no long-term effect on whale sharks

December 2012. Whale shark ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry throughout the world. Although conservationists argue that this type of business is "win-win" - providing an alternative to the harvest of these animals by fishermen, and governments with strong economic incentives to protect the vulnerable species - there are some concerns that tourists swimming with the sharks may have negative effects on these animals.

No affect when well regulated
The first multi-year study to investigate this issue suggests that ecotourism - when well-regulated - does not affect whale sharks. According to the research, which was conducted over five years at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, sharks that frequently encounter tourists are just as likely to return to the reef as sharks that only interact with a few humans.

Ningaloo Reef study
Between 1993 and 2011, the number of whale shark tourists at Ningaloo increased rapidly from 1,000 to 17,000 so that today, the industry generates around $6 million dollars each winter season for the region. "Our research shows that the code of conduct used by the Department of Environment and Conservation to protect whale sharks is very effective with no detectable impacts of tourists on their aggregation behaviour at Ningaloo across years," says lead author Rob Sanzogni, based at the University of Western Australia in Perth and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

"The research, which was funded by Apache Energy Ltd and supported by the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, suggests that Ningaloo's ecotourism industry, at least in its current form, is ecologically sustainable into the future" says Dr Mark Meekan, Principal Research Scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and a co-author of the study. He hopes that this research will provide a blueprint for similar work on the impact of ecotourism on marine megafauna such as manta rays and whales on the Australian coast. Meekan notes "we can't rest here - we need to keep these long-term studies going so that we can ensure that we will have these iconic and spectacular animals to enjoy on our coasts for the foreseeable future".

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whale-shark-study.html