Whale Sharks

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 29 2007 | By: admin

Seeing as the weather is not particularly whale shark friendly (to say the least!! - today many boats did not go out at all it was so rough), I have spent most of this morning planning our Inter-school Art Competition. We have involved several local schools and are in the process of collecting their pictures/paintings of whale sharks in time for an exhibition in November at Leisure Lodge Resort on Diani beach. The aim is to get as many school children as possible talking and learning about whale sharks. Whenever we go to schools and give our presentations we are always so warmed, encouraged and impressed by the range of intelligent questions the kids ask. Without fail, they are always interested and curious. I love the questions some of the smaller ones ask, like “Why do whale sharks have those wings on the side?” and the child stuck her little arms out imitating the whale shark’s fins. I launched into an explanation about aerodynamics and watched her eyes widen. Thankfully, Volker took over at that point.

The art competition is something that the children can take part in, knowing they are helping with the conservation effort. We will invite the children to come along to the exhibition with their parents and as it will run for a week we can divide all the schools up in to manageable groups. They will be able to talk to the visitors and tourists who will hopefully buy their paintings as well as learn about the project. We hope that the buyer of the painting will take an active interest in the little artist who has no doubt put a great deal of time and effort into their whale shark masterpiece!

Leisure Lodge Resort has been one of our staunch supporters and the management are making the planning of the exhibition relatively easy! I still have to get all the pictures mounted and arranged on the exhibition boards and we will do posters a bit nearer the event. I have a volunteer helping me with this.

We are fortunate here in Diani to have a wide range of schools that we can get involved in the project, ranging from small local schools to the bigger, more international schools. We like the idea of all these different children from different backgrounds mixing and getting know each other in the spirit of whale shark conservation.

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 28 2007 | By: admin

In preparation for our Tagging Expedition 2008 Volker and Nimu went to check out Kinondo reef this morning. Kinondo is one of our whale shark hotspots (see the dive site map on our website www.giantsharks.org). Unfortunately the conditions weren’t great and the sea was a little rough so whilst there were plenty of beautiful fish (as always) there no whale sharks around! Of course it is extremely difficult to spot them in those kind of conditions but we like to keep our hand in and check out the various sites regularly.

Something that we are trying to get started on is a regular aerial survey of our coast line, in particular a whale shark (and turtle) survey. We were amazed at how easy it was to spot whale sharks with the use of a spotter plane during the last expedition in February 2007. Whale shark sightings had been very low despite it being whale shark season. The visiting scientists had stressed the need for a spotter plane during the previous expedition in 2005 and so we went to great lengths to secure a plane and a very kind local pilot for 2007. None of us were prepared for the amount of sharks spotted with such regularity and ease over the expedition period. Even the scientists (who have been tagging whale sharks for years) were excited by the record numbers of whale sharks seen. We continue to work hard together with the KWS and the local community to get an aerial survey up and running because without it we cannot have a complete picture of how many whale sharks there are on our coast.

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 26 2007 | By: admin

We have several ongoing projects at the EAWST:

Our research initiative involves everything from distributing sighting forms to tagging and rescue. We keep a daily record of all whale shark sightings and work closely with local diving and fishing operators. If a whale shark gets entangled in a net we try to rescue it - see the video on our website www.giantsharks.org. Our tagging project is perhaps the most cutting edge of all our work. We run yearly tagging expeditions during the peak whale shark season (Feb/March) and this year together with Brent Stewart and Steve Wilson from HUBBS Seaworld Research Institute we led the first ever whale shark satellite tagging expedition off the coast of East Africa! 3 satellite tags were deployed as well as several streamer/identity tags. DNA biopsies were carried out and over 50 sharks were sighting during the 10 day expedition. So far 2 of the tags have come off, one off the coast of Somalia and the other off the coast of Tanzania. We have the latest GPS positions and are very keen to get these tags back not least because they cost over USD4000 each and have very valuable data on them but also because we can reuse them next year. So if you think you can help with the recovery please let us know.

Our education project has us giving presentations and workshops in local schools and hotels.

And our fishermen project allows us to work closely with local fishermen, encouraging a good working relationship so that whale shark sightings are reported and any problems are shared.

We are starting to prepare for the whale shark season now, and aim to get the Diani beach community fully involved in our conservation efforts!

Thanks!

No responses yet

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 24 2007 | By: admin

In Kiswahili, the whale shark is called “papa shillingi” translating as “shark covered in shillings.” There is a local legend that God was so pleased when he created this beautiful fish that he gave his angels handfuls of gold and silver coins to throw down from heaven onto its back. So it goes that whale sharks have their magical markings and swim near the surface catching the sun on their backs as a way of saying thank you to their Maker.

Whale sharks have called Kenyan waters home for many years. Recently, there has been a significant increase which is perhaps related to the post El Nino mantis shrimp invasion. Based on Diani Beach the East African Whale Shark Trust (EAWST) was founded by Volker Bassen in response to the dramatic increase in sightings as well as increased interest from the tourist sector.

The increase in whale sharks along the Kenyan coast has meant that they have become more of a target. Under international law, whale sharks are only given a secondary type of protection. They are listed under CITES Appendix II meaning that trade in whale sharks is allowed but must be monitored. Although relatively little is known about the biggest fish in the ocean, most specialists will agree that this level of protection is not enough. The overall aim of many whale shark projects is to raise awareness so that the level of protection afforded to whale shark is increased. The more we know about whale sharks the easier it will be to review the level of protection. The EAWST aims to provide a research centre for collecting and analyzing data on the local whale shark population, its habits and movements. The Trust works closely with other regional organizations because whale sharks are migratory.

3 responses so far