Conservation of Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef - Western Australia
Peter Harley
We have all heard stories about divers hanging off whale sharks and going
for a ride. I often wonder if those divers ever think what it would be
like to be walking along the street and suddenly grabbed and jumped on.
Due to the lack of research available on whale sharks, the effect of
riding whale sharks has not been scientifically determined. Many divers
hide behind this and get carried away with the euphoria of the encounter.
Without protection from abuse, divers may actually chase off whale sharks
from their existing feeding grounds, denying the experience of a whale
shark encounter to future diver.
In Australia the Western Australian state government, in consultation with
dive shop owners and whale shark tour operators, have taken steps to
conserve this marine resource.
As a result, whale sharks are fully protected in Western Australia under
the Wildlife Conservation Act and CALM (Department of Conservation and
Land Management) Act.
The following code of conduct to minimise the risk of injury and to
prevent the fish from being harmed or disturbed.
Code of Conduct for boats approaching whale sharks.
Exclusive Contact Zone
- ,An exclusive contact zone of 250 meter radius applies around any whale shark.
- Only one vessel at a time may operate within the zone for a maximum time
of 90 minutes and at a speed of 8 knots or less
- the first vessel within that zone will be deemed to be łin contact˛.
The second vessel to arrive must keep a distance of 250 meters from the
shark, and any others must be 400 meters from the shark.
- łIn contact vessel and tender to approach from ahead of the sharkąs
direction of travel
- łIn-contact˛ vessel and tender must remain over 30 meters from the shark
Swimmers in the Contact Zone
- Must not attempt to touch or ride on a whale shark, restrict the normal
movement of behaviour of the shark, or approach closer than 3 meters from
the head or body and 4 meters from the tail.
- Must not undertake flash photography or use motorised propulsion aids.
- Are limited to a maximum of 10 people in the water at any one time.
Hopefully with the observation of these rules, divers will be able to swim
with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef well into the future.
łTake Photographs and Leave Bubbles.˛
Peter Harrison, Exmouth Diving Centre
Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia
http://www.exmouthdiving.com.au
(commercial and information site)
The rules have been adapted from : Whale Sharks Ningaloo - A Guide for
Passengers of Commercial Tours, Department of Conservation and Land
Management brochure.
Marco van Berkel
All very sounds very nice. We were in Exmouth two weeks ago and the main reason
was the whale sharks. Probably we were there at the wrong moment and with the
wrong operator, I don't know.
The first day we didn't saw any whaleshark, so we went the next day. We had some
more luck and we "encounterd" a baby of about 6 meters. There were 8 boats and
every one was moving in fast to "drop" their guests so they could watch the
whale shark.
The boats took there turn and indeed only one was "on" the shark at the same
time. I was dropped in the water and the whaleshark was three meter s in front
of me and I has great difficulty to get out of his (yes, it was a he) way. Also
9 other swimmers had the same problem.
I wasn't surprised that he went for a dive after an encounter like take. The
same thing happened 1 hour later and again he went away.
Again, maybe it wasn't a good day and were we on the wrong boat, but at this
point I wouldn't recommend anyone going there to see the whalesharks. For diving
however there are not many better places to go. We had a very good dive on the
navipier (complements for the good organization of the night dive there) and we
went for two extreme good dives with Wages diving.
I will go back there, but not for the whalesharks.
Marco van Berkel
Peter Harley wrote:
>
> We have all heard stories about divers hanging off whale sharks and going
> for a ride. I often wonder if those divers ever think what it would be
> like to be walking along the street and suddenly grabbed and jumped on.
> Due to the lack of research available on whale sharks, the effect of
> riding whale sharks has not been scientifically determined. Many divers
> hide behind this and get carried away with the euphoria of the encounter.
>
> Without protection from abuse, divers may actually chase off whale sharks
> from their existing feeding grounds, denying the experience of a whale
> shark encounter to future diver.
>
> In Australia the Western Australian state government, in consultation with
> dive shop owners and whale shark tour operators, have taken steps to
> conserve this marine resource.
>
> As a result, whale sharks are fully protected in Western Australia under
> the Wildlife Conservation Act and CALM (Department of Conservation and
> Land Management) Act.
>
> The following code of conduct to minimise the risk of injury and to
> prevent the fish from being harmed or disturbed.
>
> Code of Conduct for boats approaching whale sharks.
>
> Exclusive Contact Zone
> - ,An exclusive contact zone of 250 meter radius applies around any whale shark.
> - Only one vessel at a time may operate within the zone for a maximum time
> of 90 minutes and at a speed of 8 knots or less
> - the first vessel within that zone will be deemed to be ³in contact².
> The second vessel to arrive must keep a distance of 250 meters from the
> shark, and any others must be 400 meters from the shark.
> - ³In contact vessel and tender to approach from ahead of the shark¹s
> direction of travel
> - ³In-contact² vessel and tender must remain over 30 meters from the shark
>
> Swimmers in the Contact Zone
> - Must not attempt to touch or ride on a whale shark, restrict the normal
> movement of behaviour of the shark, or approach closer than 3 meters from
> the head or body and 4 meters from the tail.
> - Must not undertake flash photography or use motorised propulsion aids.
> - Are limited to a maximum of 10 people in the water at any one time.
>
> Hopefully with the observation of these rules, divers will be able to swim
> with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef well into the future.
>
> ³Take Photographs and Leave Bubbles.²