BACKGROUND:

Whale Sharks have long been the ultimate marine animal for many divers but yet very little is know about these magnificent creatures. Recent attempts to get international protected status for these sharks succeeded to achieve Appendix ll status at CITES last year. Over the last five years whale sharks in the Indian Ocean have been subjected to unlimited slaughter for the far eastern 'Fad Food' restaurant industry and sightings seem to have declined in many areas.

In Seychelles although whale sharks have never been hunted, since November 2002 they have fully protected in Seychelles waters and sightings have in fact been on the increase over the last few years. The Underwater Centre is honoured to be closely involved with the Whale Shark Monitoring programme of the Marine Conservation Society, Seychelles, (incorporating the Shark Research Institute Seychelles) Now you too can assist us in getting the much needed data to get this species legally protected, and have an immense amount of fun and excitement into the bargain!

The tagging programme from 2001 to 2003 incorporated not only visual tag placement but also deployment of acoustic tags and satellite tags. These new technologies have been made possible through support from the World Bank Global Environmental Facility. For programme participants this has opened up substantial new areas of involvement in this globally important research programme.