Research: Satellite tracking reveals Philippine waters are important for endangered whale sharks –

The Philippines is a major hotspot for whale sharks and the third largest population of whale sharks. Although the species has been protected in the Philippines since 1998, the species has been declared an "endangered species" in 2016 in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to A population decline of more than 50%, largely caused by the continued exploitation of endangered species. l & # 39; Indo-Pacific. Particularly in South-East Asia, concerns remain due to continued fishing in regional waters; Understanding the movements of whale sharks in the Philippines is vital if we are to identify the conservation priorities of the species.

By attaching SPOT5 satellite tags to whale sharks, researchers from the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute of the Philippines (LAMAVE), Megafauna Marine Foundation (MMF) and Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) were able to track movements juvenile whale sharks in near real time in order to gain insight into their behavior. Labels work by communicating with passing ARGOS satellites, transmitting a location when the wet / dry sensor is triggered when a tagged whale shark breaks the surface. To facilitate the transmission of the transmission marks, a 1.8 meter line was attached to a whale shark so that the marks surface more frequently.

17 individuals were tagged in three different locations in the Philippines: Panaon Island (Southern Leyte); northern Mindanao (Misamis Oriental and Surigao del Norte) and Tubbataha Reefs Nature Park (Palawan). Tagging took place between April 2015 and April 2016. All tagged whale sharks were juveniles ranging in size from 4.5 to 7 meters and 73% of them were males.

In their peer-reviewed article published in – The Journal of Life & Environmental Sciences the researchers found that traces of marks showed that all whale sharks remained in the Philippines during the follow-up period, highlighting the importance of the archipelago for the species. The longest trail was observed from a whale shark originally tagged in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, which seemed to swim across the Sulu and Bohol Seas and into the Pacific, a trip of more than 2,500 km. While whale sharks are not known for their speed, the results revealed that a whale shark averaged 47 km per day, which accentuated the mobile tendencies of the species.

Leading author of the study, Gonzalo Araujo points out that the mobility of whale sharks, even juveniles, and the need for larger-scale management and conservation plans for this endangered species.

LAMAVE's specific research and citizen science identified more than 600 individuals in the Sulu and Bohol Seas. this fishing population in the broader region (South China Sea) means that it is essential to monitor this population as a whole to understand if this population is recovering or continues to decline. Identification of threats and mitigation strategies is a conservation priority for the species. LAMAVE continues to study whale sharks in five key areas of the Philippines, working with local and national governments as well as with collaborating organizations to develop conservation strategies for this iconic species.