Humans have injured 80% of whale sharks in THIS popular tourist waters

Research has uncovered some sad facts about whale sharks. In the Bird's Head Seascape off Indonesian West Papua, 62 per cent of whale sharks have scars and injuries caused by reasons linked to humans, all of which were preventable. An international group of researchers made the sorry state of whale sharks, the largest living fish species and which is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Dr. Edy Setyawan, the study's corresponding author, said, "We found that scars and injuries were mainly from anthropogenic causes, such as collisions with 'bagans'—traditional fishing platforms with lift nets—and whale shark-watching tour boats." the lead conservation scientist at the Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia added in the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science that "relatively harmless minor abrasions were the most common." Predator attacks and serious injuries from boats were less common.

The researchers studied whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay, Kaimana, Raja Ampat, and Fakfak within the Bird's Head Seascape, over a period of 13 years. They had data and pictures to identify each whale fish individually since they all have a unique pattern of white spots and stripes. They recorded the date and time of each sighting, the shark's sex, maturity and the nature of injuries. From 2010 to 2023, they observed a total of 268 unique whale sharks and noticed injury marks on 206 of them. The study noted that 80.6 per cent of whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay had injuries that were from things that humans did or constructed. Meanwhile, 58.3 per cent of them had injuries that were most likely because of natural causes. Scientists fear the injuries from bagans and boats will increase in the future if the needed steps are not taken.

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Whale sharks seen over 13 years were mostly males

Whale sharks were seen mostly only near bagans, where they came to eat anchovies, herrings, and sprats, all used as bait. A young male held the record for most sightings, being seen 34 times over three years. Most of the whale sharks were young, and 90 per cent were males. So, where were the female sharks? Co-author Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra, a senior manager at the Focal Species Conservation Program of the national foundation Konservasi Indonesia. said, "Previous studies from around the world have shown that adult whale sharks, especially females, prefer the deep ocean where they feed on prey like krill and schooling fish, while the younger males stay closer to shore in shallow, plankton-rich waters that help them grow quickly."