Whale Shark Ecology
Arabian Gulf & Gulf of Oman
Key Objective:
The main objective of the project is to investigate the ecology of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman by fieldwork and a satellite tagging initiative with a view to providing information about the species so that protection within the region may be considered.
Why this is important:
It is only in the last few years as the local diving industry has developed that there has been a significant increase in the number of recorded sightings from the area, suggesting that the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf may be of greater importance to whale sharks than previously thought.
Background
The plight of whale sharks in this region was brought to international attention in the 2009 Arabian Seas Whale Shark Symposium.
The ecology research project then began in June 2010 and includes fieldwork for data collection and a regional ID database for whale sharks (www.sharkwatcharabia.com). The database and website were launched as a tool to collect information on shark abundance and movements in the region.
The information collected in the Sharkwatch Arabia database will be utilised in the overall ecology research study. Sightings are recorded from throughout the whole GCC region. One of the social aims of the project is to directly involve the local community by turning divers and sea-going individuals into researchers.
Aims and Objectives
Aims are to:
- Establish a regional whale shark identification database.
- Understand the distribution and movements of whale sharks and why they occur.
- Form an estimate of whale shark abundance and demography.
- Discover how environmental and bio-physical factors influence distribution.
- Assess the impact of human activity on the whale shark in the region.
Objectives are to:
- Collect and process images and information collected in the field and/or sent to Sharkwatch Arabia from the local diving community to build a regional identification database.
- Examine whale shark movements throughout the region and beyond with the use of satellite telemetry.
- Combine the use of community based data collection and fieldwork to build up a picture over time of the seasonal abundance and demography of whale sharks.
- Identify annual patterns in plankton parameters (density, size structure, biomass, taxonomic group), to characterize the oceanographic features where animals are found and to utilize the use of remote satellite imagery in an attempt to understand whale shark occurrence and distribution.
- Investigate fisheries data, strandings and occurrence in ports and marinas throughout the region with a view to explaining why such events occur.
Project leader:
David Robinson
Partners:
Heriot-Watt University & Sultan Qaboos University
Related threat:
Years funded:
2011
April Update - The Sharks are Back!
— .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 30 April, 2012
It has been a long wait since the whale sharks disappeared from the region in November but they have now started to return once again. I have been monitoring shark occurrence since 2010 and have now gained a good idea…
March Update
— .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 01 April, 2012
March has seen the first reports of whale sharks slowly starting to return to the region. There have been reports from Fujairah and the Musandam and even a first report from the platform workers on the Qatar rigs. The waters…
February Update
— .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 03 March, 2012
February has been a slow month but whale shark encounters have started to be reported. Last year the first whale shark report came in April and in February there have been encounters reported from both Qatar and the Musandam showing…
January Update
— .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 31 January, 2012
The winter has now well and truly set in and there have been no whale shark encounters reported for the entire month of January in the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Oman. Diving activity is still high in the region…
December Update
— .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 29 December, 2011
The winter has truly set in and the water temperatures within the Arabian Gulf have started to plummet. There have been no reports of whale sharks inside the Arabian Gulf since the beginning of November. Next year we will hold…