Whale Shark

Scientific Name: Rhincodon typus

Estimated Population
Relatively limited information is available on the population trends for the Whale Shark. The number of Whale Sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park [Western Australia] is estimated to vary between 200 and 400 individuals. In India the catch statistics indicate more than 1000 individuals in the peak season off Gujarat coast.

Catch statistics and anecdotal reports suggest that the status of this unique species is declining.

Habitat and distribution
The species is distributed throughout the world's tropical and warm temperate seas. India is said to have the largest congregation of this species. Most commonly found in a global band around the equator between 30 and 40 latitude,it occurs throughout the Indian Ocean.

Unique Characteristics
Whale shark is the largest fish in the world; the head is flattened and the wide mouth, positioned at the tip of the snout, stretches almost as wide as the body. The whale shark is particularly large and its tail has a half moon shape.

Whale Sharks are grayish, bluish or brownish above, with an upper surface pattern of creamy white spots between pale, vertical and horizontal stripes. The belly is white. Average size of the fish is 9-14m (up to 20 m) and weighs approximately 12-15 tons. The largest specimen recorded was caught on November 11, 1997, near the island of Baba, not far from Karachi, Pakistan. It was 12.65m (41.5ft.) long, weighed more than 21.5 tons, and had a girth of 7 m (23 ft.). During the WWF/TRAFFIC study the largest specimen caught was of 12m and the smallest was of 2m.

Conservation Challenges
The Whale Shark is a less abundant species. Because they attain sexual maturity quite late, their population is extremely vulnerable to over fishing. The main threat to the species has been the growth of unregulated and unsustainable fisheries to meet international trade demands for shark fins, liver oil, skin and meat. Other threats come from by-catch in set nets, accidental collision with boats and coastal pollution. Due to the whale shark's tendency to migrate from one region to another, there has been a decline in the number of seasonal sightings (for example, in South Africa and Thailand). This may also be due to unsustainable fishing in other parts of the whale shark's range.

WWF's Involvement
WWF-India [2001] carried a detailed assessment of the whale shark trade in Gujarat between 1998 and 2000 and highlighted that the Gujarat fishermen were hunting more than 600 whale sharks annually. Also that the whale shark fishery was unregulated. A growing demand and evidence of local depletion in a few countries [e.g. Taiwan and the Philippines] clearly indicated increasing pressure on India's whale shark population and the threat to the species by continuation and growth of international trade.

This was the first time that any research on the Whale shark was undertaken in India. Around the world South Africa, Australia and the United States were perhaps the few countries that had begun to study the whale shark. Most countries slowly realised that it was crucial to save the whale. Consequently, several countries, such as the Maldives and the Philippines, passed laws protecting whale sharks and switched over to ecotourism much before even India could protect and think of non-consumptive uses of this species. Finally in July 2001, in a ground breaking decision by the Ministry of Environment and Forests the whale shark was included in Schedule I of Indian wildlife (Protetion) Act, 1972 thus giving whale shark the maximum protection and making it the first marine fish to be listed in the Indian Wildlife Act.