The LAMAVE (Large Marine Vertebrates Project) has photographed the
first match of an individual whale shark in different Regions in the
Philippines!
Shark P-429, dubbed by researchers as “Ronald” was first identified in
Oslob, Cebu in April 2012 was seen again during a research expedition in San
Ricardo, Southern Leyte a month later.
This finding underlines the importance of the Bohol Sea for the
population of whale sharks in the Philippines and in the South East Asia. These animals, once very abundant in the
Visayas, have been depleted by decades of hunting and now, thanks to National
and International protection are slowly re-populating their original habitats.
Photo by conservation photographer Steve de Neef of researcher Dominic "Ranga" Clarke while photo-identifying the whale shark in Leyte, Philippines.
Thanks to the work of the researchers, more information can be
collected and must be used as a tool to ensure the long term conservation of
these magnificent animals.
Unfortunately, we are reminded that the impact of human activities on
these animals have far reaching, and unpredictable consequences. As migratory
species, any changes in behavior caused by human activities in one area, can
put the animal at risk as it displays this altered behavior in other areas
(even other countries) where whale sharks are still not fully protected.
LAMAVE
will continue to work on conserving whale sharks in the Philippines through
scientific research and community outreach.
(www.lamave.org)