Maldives WS-067 (Joey)
Photos from my last whale shark encounter in the Maldives, taken on March 27 just off Maamigili island (South Ari Atoll):
South Ari is the best place in the Maldives to find whale sharks; there's a population of a little over 100 identified individuals living nearly year round in the area. As all the sharks are juveniles and nearly all are males (there are four known females out of 103 known individuals), the area is thought to be a whale shark nursery. My dive centre, among others in the atoll, has been working with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, a team of British researchers, to help identify individuals when we encounter them on our weekly whale shark diving and snorkelling trips.
This shark was cruising in shallow water (around 6 m deep) but didn't stay long once we jumped. Even with only three of us in the water, it started heading towards the reef edge almost right away and had dived to deeper water within five minutes of beginning the encounter. This is the first time I've seen this shark, and while our encounters are generally getting shorter (most probably due to to having too many boats and too many people in the water with any given shark — whale shark tourism is in its infancy here and poorly planned and controlled), I'm guessing that this shark is particularly jumpy because of the finning attempt.
The Maldives Whale Shark Research Program has nicknamed most of the sharks they've encountered in the Maldives. This one is Joey. He's about 6m long and, despite the finning attempt, seemed relatively healthy. He was first sighted with the nearly-amputated dorsal about a year ago so, while it's pretty sad to see a shark in this sort of condition, but at least we know he's hanging in there.
Whale sharks are officially protected in the Maldives, but the high prices fetched by the fins and the ease of finning a docile, relatively slow moving shark near the surface can be too much for some local fishermen to resist. The recent ban on all shark product exports should — if enforced — help improve the plight of all sharks in the Maldives. On the other hand, the Maldvian government also recently announced plans to build an international port at Maamigili Island. This area is basically whale shark central, and the plans for the port fly in the face of the government's supposed support for the idea of creating a series of marine protected area around Maamgili to protect whale shark habitat — one of the main aims of the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme. The president has since told reporters that there will be no harbour before a full environmental survey has been carried out. Of course.
South Ari is the best place in the Maldives to find whale sharks; there's a population of a little over 100 identified individuals living nearly year round in the area. As all the sharks are juveniles and nearly all are males (there are four known females out of 103 known individuals), the area is thought to be a whale shark nursery. My dive centre, among others in the atoll, has been working with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, a team of British researchers, to help identify individuals when we encounter them on our weekly whale shark diving and snorkelling trips.
This shark was cruising in shallow water (around 6 m deep) but didn't stay long once we jumped. Even with only three of us in the water, it started heading towards the reef edge almost right away and had dived to deeper water within five minutes of beginning the encounter. This is the first time I've seen this shark, and while our encounters are generally getting shorter (most probably due to to having too many boats and too many people in the water with any given shark — whale shark tourism is in its infancy here and poorly planned and controlled), I'm guessing that this shark is particularly jumpy because of the finning attempt.
The Maldives Whale Shark Research Program has nicknamed most of the sharks they've encountered in the Maldives. This one is Joey. He's about 6m long and, despite the finning attempt, seemed relatively healthy. He was first sighted with the nearly-amputated dorsal about a year ago so, while it's pretty sad to see a shark in this sort of condition, but at least we know he's hanging in there.
Whale sharks are officially protected in the Maldives, but the high prices fetched by the fins and the ease of finning a docile, relatively slow moving shark near the surface can be too much for some local fishermen to resist. The recent ban on all shark product exports should — if enforced — help improve the plight of all sharks in the Maldives. On the other hand, the Maldvian government also recently announced plans to build an international port at Maamigili Island. This area is basically whale shark central, and the plans for the port fly in the face of the government's supposed support for the idea of creating a series of marine protected area around Maamgili to protect whale shark habitat — one of the main aims of the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme. The president has since told reporters that there will be no harbour before a full environmental survey has been carried out. Of course.
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1:38 a.m.
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