A BIG FISH
In August 2013, scientists from Mote and their Mexican collaborators published the largest-ever
scientific study of whale sharks, uncovering new information that could solve mysteries about this
species and help protect the largest fish in the sea.
T
The project was centered off the Mexican state
of Quintana Roo, on the northeastern Yucatan
Peninsula. Coastal waters there host rich plankton
blooms — a feast for the gentle filter-feeding whale
sharks, which frequent the area from May through
September. As many as 420 whale sharks have been
observed during a single airplane survey conducted
by Mexican researcher Beatriz Galván, making this
In short:This is big.
the largest known feeding aggregation of whale
The nine-year study shows that whale sharks sharks on Earth.
found at a major feeding aggregation site near
From 2003-2012, project scientists studied these
Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula travel to many places
throughout the Gulf of Mexico, the northwestern big eaters by fitting 813 sharks with ID tags and
Caribbean Sea and the Straits of Florida. These examining underwater photographs of 956 sharks
findings highlight why the Mexican feeding site is to document their unique spot patterns, which serve
a vital fueling station for whale sharks throughout as fingerprints and allow them to be individually
the region and suggest that these wide-ranging identified. Both methods allowed scientists to
fish need international protection. The study also recognize the sharks if they were found in other
documented the second-longest whale shark areas later.The researchers also attached electronic
migration ever confirmed — a trail that may help satellite tags to 35 whale sharks — the greatest
number of whale sharks ever outfitted with satellite
researchers discover where the sharks give birth.
tags in one published study.
he largest-ever scientific study of whale
sharks, the world’s biggest fish, was published
in the journal PLOS ONE by Mote sicentists
and collaborators from Mexico. The study reveals
the sharks’ international journeys and their
relationship to the largest whale shark feeding
hotspot known to science.
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