LATEST SIGHTING - 406 items in Database

Date: 2005-10-23 Divespot: Dhigurah Beru Activity: snorkeling
Duration: 10 min Depth: 5 m Size: 6.0 m Submitted: Holiday Island Resort

Editorial

The Giant travelers of the Sea

by Werner Mischler - Eurodivers (White Sands Resort & Spa)

Have you ever seen a whale shark? If yes, you are a lucky person! You have seen the largest fish in the ocean and one of the rarest too.  But these peaceful giants are in danger. They are not worldwide protected and some whale shark ends as traditional Chinese medicines or simple as oil. 

A giant traveler on his journey

The scientific name is Rhincodon typus. The local people in the Maldives call them "Fehurihi". The whale shark is the largest of all sharks. Actually they are the largest fish species in the sea. Indeed, within the Animal Kingdom it is only beaten by the great Whales themselves. Some of the bigger specimens could grow up to 12 - 15 meters. Early reports of 18 meters have been made but the longest ever official measured shark was in 1983 in India at the coast of Bombay cached by a fisherman, the male whale shark had a total length of 1218 cm he had a weight of 11 tons,  the average spotted size here in the Maldives is around 3-6 meters. Even a baby whale shark is already 50-70 cm long. The skin is blue grey and mottled with pale patches and has conspicuous ridges along its body. Its mouth is at the end of its snout an unusual position for a shark and its jaws can be over a meter wide, they are armed with approximately 3000 tiny teethes. Their main food is plankton, krill, small fishes, sardines, squids and crustaceans which they filter through the gills. Whale sharks usually feed by cruising slowly near the surface. Sometimes they are feeding in a vertical position, using their mouths like giant buckets to trap food. Giant Animals like Whale sharks, Whales and Manta rays all they feed on the smallest animals in the sea; the plankton. Their natural habitat is in tropical and temperate waters worldwide. These huge Animals are listed as endangered species and therefore it is a very good image for the Maldives that we can still see them in these waters. Unfortunately Whale sharks are still a regularly hunt for use in traditional Chinese medicines. 1995 a Female Whale shark was hunted and they found hundreds of embryos in the stomach, some still in their egg cases.

Whale shark passing by

Whale shark watching is very popular worldwide, and People will travel long distances to see the migrating Whale shark. Here in the Maldives is one place where tourists have the unique opportunity of seeing these gentle Giants in their natural habitat and many Diveoperators offering Dive-trips or Whale shark Safaris or Snorkeling trips for "Peaceful Whale shark Watching.

The Maldivian especially are well acquainted with these fishes. Although the Whale sharks may be seen in some part of the Maldives all year around. At some months (like May) the waters of the South Ari Atoll is filled with "rich-plankton" and then the Whale sharks and also the giant Mantas can be seen very regularly until the plankton change again. According to our local three year observations here at our Dive-school, the appearances of Whale sharks very often seen during calm weather the night fishing and during the sunset. Maybe the plankton is more plentiful at this time.

Maldivian fishermen now a days would never harm these gentle giants though they are very easy to catch. They catch in the early days in the Maldives, from more than 30 per year in the early 1980s to less than 30 per year by the early 1990s.

Surprisingly enough, the Maldivian do not consume the flesh of this fish; their main interest was purely to obtain the rich liver-oil which was used to paint the interior of a Dhoni (local boats). Subsequently, recognizing the huge economic importance of shark-watching in the Country, the catch of Whale sharks is forbidden in the Maldives water.

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