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Whale sharks (Sagren)
are found regularly around Seychelles, occurring
throughout the year with most sightings being recorded
around Mahé Island during two peak periods: June to
August and October to December. In fact, some of the
earliest sightings were recorded here. In 1868 Irish
naturalist E. Percival Wright reported seeing a 14m (46ft)
specimen in Port Victoria, Mahé.
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Being the largest fish, they have almost no natural
predators and until recently were not considered good
eating. Today, the oriental restaurant trade is promoting
the flesh of these gentle giants as ‘Tofu Shark’ and so they are actively hunted in many areas. For a
shark with a long and slow reproductive cycle, this is very bad
news. As long ago as 1990, conservationists had already
flagged the whale shark on the IUCN (International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red
List as 'endangered, vulnerable or rare'. However, by
1996 the species was still unprotected and listed as 'Data
Deficient'.
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| A 5m
whale shark from above. Photo Steve Maximo |
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In order to provide some data to support the proposed protected status of whale sharks, a pilot
project to monitor their numbers and occurrence around Seychelles was started in November 1996 with
assistance from PADI Project Aware. This was implemented by local conservationists, divers and volunteer
helpers in liaison with the Shark Research Institutes of South Africa and New Jersey (see next issue for
details).
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Following on the success of this project, those people involved in it formed the Marine Conservation
Society Seychelles (MCSS) incorporating a local chapter of the Shark Research Institute. This allowed
the continuation of the monitoring work and the support of other marine related conservation projects.
The principle aim of the MCSS Whale Shark Monitoring programme is to elucidate the habits of these
remarkable sharks and promote their conservation both locally and internationally. |
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MCSS team hard at
work |
The monitoring programme relies on being able to identify individual whale sharks and then record
their activities and movements by subsequent re-sightings. This gives an indication of the number of
sharks around the islands and also what they are doing and where they go.
The pilot programme relied solely on voluntary funding and support and this is still the core basis of
the project now run under the auspices of the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles
(MCSS). In Summer
2001, the MCSS also received grant funding from the World Bank Global Environmental Facility for the
project which has allowed MCSS to upgrade the technology used and fund some specialist assistance in
implementing the monitoring programme.
Continued in next issue…
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