Migration Patterns of Whale Sharks 2005 -2008

Migration Patterns of Whale Sharks; A summary of 15 satellite tag tracks from 2005 to 2008. Each year from March to May, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), aggregate on the continental shelf of the central Western Australian coast. At Ningaloo Reef, whale sharks are often found swimming close to the reef front, within a few kilometres of the shore and in water of less than 50 m deep. A tourist industry based on snorkelling with the sharks in this area has developed over the last 10 years and is now worth over $20 m annually to the local economy of the Ningaloo region. The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has a long-term research project that examines the ecology of whale sharks. A central aim of this project is to determine regional long-term movement patterns of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef. This is achieved by tracking sharks with a variety of tags, principally Wildlife Computers SPLASH tags Benthos Point intercept data extraction from high resolution still images @ 10m spacing was entered into the AIMS TowedStills system prior to subsequent specialist statistical analyses.