Whale Sharks

One of Triton Bay’s biggest draws are the whale sharks.  Just as in Cenderawasih Bay, the whale sharks here are attracted to the anchovies and other baitfish caught by the bagans (floating fishing platforms).  There are a few locations around Kaimana Regency where the bagans operate, and they can be over an hour away from the resort.  Due to various factors, the bagans are not always operating or may be fishing for other kinds of fish so not every bagan will attract whale sharks.  Bagans operate at night, turning on their lights and lifting their nets usually well before sunrise when they are full.  For this reason, trips to see the whale sharks always start early in the morning as we try to get there as soon as possible after the nets have been lifted.  Empty nets don’t keep whale sharks around.  This is also the reason why the days around the full moon are not good for fishing – the bright moon light means that baitfish aren’t likely to congregate around the bagan’s lights – and therefore not ideal for seeing whale sharks.

Conservation International (CI) has been running a whale shark ID and monitoring program in Kaimana for a number of years now.   In February 2017 a few lucky guests were able to observe a team from CI tag a whale shark with a satellite transmitter.   That event was described in a blog entry that can be read here.

In addition, photographers who would like to assist with CI’s monitoring of whale sharks may take ID shots and submit them directly to CI.  Instructions on how to take ID shots and submission details can be found from this PDF file – WS ID Guide