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24 – 27 April 2010
N12 55.589 E123 34.459 – Woodland Resort, Donsol
WWF Research boat with our big Panda flag at the "mast" as we go forth and look for whale sharks in the waters of Donsol Bay
To address some important questions about where sharks spend their time and what habtitats are important to them, a whale shark tagging program was set up four years ago in Donsol for whale shark conservation. With funding for megafauna research from WWF Denmark managed by Lene Topp, and quite a number of tags supported by Kerzner Marine Foundation, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI) and Project Aware, American scientist Dr. Brent Stewart, Senior Research Biologist of HSWRI from San Diego was able to tag, on the fourth year of the project, whale sharks in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines. Since 2007, 29 sharks have been tagged in Donsol.
WWF Denmark is supporting the overall whale shark program in Donsol. Other than the scientific tagging program, they also help fund the management and enforcement of the rules and regulations pertaining to responsible tourism whale shark interactions.
The greenish blue waters of Donsol has rich plankton food for whale sharks to come here year after year
This summer, nine whale sharks were tagged with archival tags. The small white archival tag records the water temperature and depth movement of the shark the tag is attached to. This tag must be physically removed to recover the stored data.
WWF Philippines VP for Conservation Programmes Joel Palma takes a snap shot of tagging scientist Dr. Brent Stewart (HSWRI) explaining the mechanism of his dart gun with archival tag attached to it to Lene Topp of WWF Denmark. Lene holds the Pop-up satellite tag or PAT tag in her hands.
Also this year, six sharks were tagged with pop-up satellite tags or (PAT) tags. The PAT tags records the whale shark’s habits, swimming patterns, preferred swimming depths, water temperature and swimming speed.
PAT tags store data in the tag for depth movement, ambient water temperature vs depth and ambient light levels
The PAT tag gets released on a programmed date and it floats to the surface. It transmits stored data to Earth-orbiting satellites for 7-10 days and the data is sent to the tagger (Brent) within a month.
A whale shark is spotted and the tagging team gets ready to enter the water from a typical Philippine outrigger boat called banca
We got to Donsol with the two last tags waiting for us – a PAT tag and an archival tag. The other 13 tags have been efficiently deployed by speedy Brent the past week since he got there. Lucky us to still get there in time to document this major scientific event.
Brent gets ready to deploy the tag. WWF Philippines David David is behind him ready to take a photo ID of the shark's left pectoral fin
Brent expertly tags a whale shark with an archival tag. With the help of a dart gun, the tip of the tag enters and lodges itself into the fat layer of the shark near the dorsal fin. The shark did not react at all.
The archival tag is successfully deployed. Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO) and new WWF Donsol staff member Embet Guadamor (L) free dives to take a photo ID of the whale shark's left pectoral fin area
By mid-day it was all over. There were many other tourist boats in the water and we were one of perhaps 15 boats out there. It was a very good season for Donsol.
(L-R) New WWF staff Embet Guadamor together with other WWF staff members, WWF Philippines David David and WWF Indonesia turtle expert Creusa "Tetha" Hitipeuw chat and compare whale shark experiences
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This entry was posted in Biodiversity, Coral Triangle, Donsol, Ecotourism, Marine conservation, Marine Protected Areas (MPA), Philippines
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3 Comments
Hello,
I am a student in third year of an engineering school in international development (ISTOM) with an emphasis on agronomics and ecology, in France.
I need to make an internship of 3 or 4 months, from july to october 2010.
I have to respect the terms of my internship fixed by my school that I need to make it in a company or having the activities as in a company.
In fact, I am actively looking for an internship that offers
substantial growth opportunities in ecological and conservation
sectors. I am interested to make an internship in biodiversity study and protection. I always be fascinated by these subjects and I want to develop my knowledge and work on its during this internship.
You can contact me at this e-mail if you need more informations or questions.
Regards,
Amazing whale shark tagging pics.
Fantastic stuff – as always!
Keep up the great work.
BOYCOTT DONSOL or write to the Philippine government.
10km south of Donsol, the fishermen are still openly fish bombing, on a daily basis. This practice is openly tolerated by the Coast Guard and the DENR and should be an embarrassment to them, being so close to what they claim to be an world-class ecotourism attractions. I have even complained to the Coast Guard station at Donsol – no action taken. So please, put some pressure on the authorities to clean up their act. It is a beautiful place but marred by these continues illegal practices.
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