UW Photos

In early February, our guests had the opportunity to observe a team from Conservation International (CI) mount a satellite tag on a whale shark.  The satellite tags record location, depth, and water temperature, and transmits that data every time the dorsal fin of the shark breaks the surface.  This information will allow them to monitor the whale sharks movements over the next two years.  According to CI, their program is the only one of its kind in the world.  They currently have tagged less than 20 whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay and only 4 in Triton Bay as of Feb 2017.

Very little is known about whale sharks.  CI’s monitoring and ID program here and in Cenderawasih Bay indicate that well over 90% of the 100+ individuals who have been identified so far are young males.  They don’t know where the females or the adults are, and it is becoming apparent that Cenderawasih & Triton Bay must be some kind of nursery for young whale sharks.  Of the sharks that we have seen ourselves here, most are between 3~9m.  Our guests help contribute to the database by providing photos of the area around the shark’s left dorsal fin for identification.

Triton Bay Divers would like to thank Dr. Mark Erdmann, Abraham Sinapar, and the team from CI for the opportunity to observe them in their work.  To learn more about CI’s whale shark monitoring program, please check out this link:

http://blog.conservation.org/tag/whale-sharks/