Why Whale Sharks?
At Save the Blue, one of our top priorities is changing the world's perception of sharks. While most think they are all vicious beasts, 30% of all shark species are endangered, and most have never even attacked a human!
Whale sharks in particular are a great starting point because everyone can see what amazing creatures they are.
Whale sharks in particular are a great starting point because everyone can see what amazing creatures they are.
- They are the biggest fish in the world, growing up to a length of 33 ft and weighing 41,000 lbs.
- They don't eat anything bigger than a small baitfish, and in fact, they don't have any teeth at all!
- Whale sharks are actually filter feeders, eating mostly plankton.
- They can filter 1500 gallons of water in a single hour.
- Each of their polka-dot spot patterns are unique, like a fingerprint, making each whale shark truly one-of-a-kind.
- Whale sharks as a species are over 60 million years old.
- They can dive deeper than 2000 meters.
- They swim in tropical waters, from Hawaii to Mexico to Indonesia!
Tagging Whale SharksIn 2016, Save the Blue headed to Cendrawasih Bay, in West Papua, New Guinea, to tag and track whale sharks with marine biologist Dr. Mark Erdmann to help set up new marine protected areas. We successfully tagged 5 new whale sharks, and recovered 2 previously deployed tags.
The sharks, named Kodo, Pongo, Merlin, and Ke’Opulupulu (one is still unnamed), have been sending location data since they were tagged in February of 2016. To the left, you can scroll through a gallery of photos taken by our friend, Kaikea Nakachi, of one of our surface encounters with the whale sharks. Below, we have included updates of the sharks Dr. Erdmann has been sending us. Maps using the real time data of the deployed tags on the sharks are included as well. Two more tags for sharks Bruce and Blueberry are in the works of being deployed in Sumbawa Island. Updates to arrive soon. For more info on whale sharks and other marine life, click here. |
Follow Their Journeys
September 2017 (Part 2) |
This week, we deployed two new tags in Sumbawa! We named one shark Bruce, and one shark Blueberry!
Blueberry is the first female whale shark to ever have be tagged with the new fin-mounted tags! |
September 2017 |
Rough month for our beautiful whale friends! Kodo's tag is M.I.A., which either means his tag simply fell off, or he has met a far more nefarious fate. We’ve uploaded his ID into the global whale shark ID database, so perhaps one day he’ll show up in Australia or Indonesia. Ke'Opulupulu's tag is quiet and we missed seeing him in person in Cendrawasih Bay. We did, however, manage to find Merlin again and draw blood samples! We took his broken tag off and downloaded his data set, and are excited to see him again soon! Read more.
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April 2017 |
Kodo made an epic journey up to Mindanao in the Philippines, down to Kei Islands, then down to Merauke off the swamps of south Papua, and most recently he’s been transmitting from the Gulf of Carpentaria in Australia! Ke’Opulupulu has reappeared and has headed back out of the bay and is hanging out SE of Biak. Pongo and Merlin have spent their entire time in the Cendrawasih Bay. Read more.
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February 2017 |
Kodo has travelled the most distance, Ke'Opulupulu is mostly centered in Cendrawasih Bay, Pongo has never left Cendrawasih Bay but has been making loads of deep dives (all the way down to 768 meters!), and Merlin has spent 95% of his time within 50 miles of Kwatisore for the past year and been caught twice! Read more.
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August 2016 |
Kodo is traveling the farthest distances, making it to Mindanao in the Philippines after having crossed through the waters of Palau. He has now shot south into the Arafura Sea in eastern Indonesia and is currently offshore of the Kei Islands! He’s now covered nearly 4000 km since leaving Cendrawasih Bay. Ke’Opulupulu has been hanging out in Kwatisore region after having returned from his “walkabout” to the NE of Biak. He’s still in Cendrawasih after returning from his cool trip north and east of Biak. Pongo has mostly remained in Cendrawasih Bay since tagging, though moving around a bit. Read more.
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June 2016 |
Kodo has dived to 200m depth at least, and is sticking close to the place we tagged him. Ke’Opulupulu has gone North and hung out on south coast of Biak for quite some time, then shot out into the deep blue and hung out for a while north of Biak, then moved southwest a bit and has been hanging out for a while in an area just on the continental shelf break. Pongo has been just hanging out near Kwatisore bagans. And Merlin has moved north to near south coast of Yapen! Read more.
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