Beautiful and endangered ... although only 1000 are believed to exist, whale sharks can often be spotted off Ningaloo Reef in WA. Amateur Aussie scientists are leading the effort to protect these gentle giants of the sea.

A Perth-based conservation group has recruited tourists and nature lovers from around the globe to photograph their sightings of whale sharks.

Known as the gentle giants of the sea, the rare and beautiful beasts grow up to 18m and are under threat of extinction.

But using ground-breaking technology first employed by NASA to identify star constellations, around 1000 whale sharks have now been identified - prompting some hope that their numbers are rising.