IN THIS ISSUE

 Did you know?

Although the whale shark was first described in 1828 by Dr Andrew Smith, earlier reports of a monstrous spotted shark seen in Seychelles waters have been found in the National Archive. 

On the 24th September 1768 the Marion-Dufresne expedition reported see-ing a monstrous looking black shark with white spots, which they esti-mated to be about 16 - 18ft (4.9 5.5m) long and 10 - 12ft (3.0 - 3.7m) wide. The slow moving shark was surrounded by small fish.    

NOTICE BOARD

Whale Shark Sightings 
 Jan - Mar 2004

In-water Sightings
12 reported sightings
8 in-water encounters

Aerial Sightings
6 reported sightings during 13 flights

Note: such low numbers are normal
for this period

 

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SAVE THE WHALE SHARK CAMPAIGN, INDIA

	The liver constitutes about 10% of the body weight of the whale shark and can fetch up to Rs 25 (US$ 1) per Kg. The oil, which constitutes about 60 to 70% of the liver is used for coating the wooden hull of boats.  Photo: Mike Pandey, Riverbank Studios

Historically whale sharks have been slaughtered in large numbers when they visit the Gujarat coast, India,  between March-May. In the past 10 years this has increased considerably as a means of making quick money. 

Official figures before 2001 reveal, every year, over 150 whale sharks are caught along the Gujarat coast. Independent figures, however, show this figure to be closer to 500. The number of whale sharks taken has reduced after the government banned its trade and fishing in May 2001 by placing the endangered fish in schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act. But legal protection is not enough.........  

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 Globally the whale shark ecotourism industry is growing and as such it is important to ensure that encounters are not only enjoyable and safe for people
but also that the animal is not being harmed or disturbed. 

The initiative for the Seychelles Whale Shark Encounter Policy Workshop began with the Whale Shark Monitoring Network Workshop held in May 2003 (Sagren vol 1.2) during which the participants, amongst other issues, noted that the regular occurrence of whale sharks in Seychelles waters made them an ideal ecotourism resource......

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Whale sharks have been shown to migrate from Ningaloo towards Christmas island.   Photo Udo Engelhardt

In 2002, a whale shark was tagged in Ningaloo Marine Park (off the north west coast of Australia) and tracked for over 2500km towards Christmas Island (south of Indonesia). Although always expected, this was the first proof that sharks from Ningaloo travel long distances away from the Australian coast. In order to expand this programme, in January 2004, a team from the Australian marine conservation group ECOCEAN conducted a field trip to Christmas Island at the time
when whale sharks are usually sighted by the dive industry. 

In addition to one SPOT 2 satellite tag donated to the programme by MCSS, the team had four archival data-logging tags for deployment. Daily vessel surveys were undertaken......

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Please let us know! Please get as much information as possible, where when, how many, how big, what it was doing etc. then call us, e-mail us or fill out our on-line sighting form every sighting is important in building a picture of these sharks movements and behaviour around Seychelles

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By becoming a whale shark foster parent you are ensuring that research on whale sharks is continued. Your support will assist in protecting these amazing creatures and ensure that they continue roaming the world’s tropical oceans.

Adopt me !

Mazarin (s275): A 4½ m juvenile male whale shark tagged on the 25th January 2003 near L'ilôt Island. He has a distinct scaring pattern and is easily recognized.

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