| Matt Potenski's blog: Operation Whale Shark |
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Live vicariously through Matthew Potenski's blog to experience the study of a newly discovered aggregation of whale sharks in the waters surrounding Mafia Island, Tanzania.
Whale sharks are still hunted in some areas of the Indian Ocean, and understanding their migrational patterns will aid in determining where conservation efforts need to be focused. Additionally, all whale sharks can be told apart by their distinctive and individual spot patterns – much like fingerprints in humans. Researchers in many areas (including Mafia Island) of the Indian Ocean are taking spot-ID photos and submitting them to a centralized database so that large-scale connections of sightings can be correlated and population numbers estimated and clues to migration patterns supported.  A Whale Shark with The Kairos. Photo Matthew Potenski Matthew Potenski has joined us to give you an inside look at the frontline of shark conservation via scientific research in this Shark Savers exclusive field journal Blog! Please check back with Shark Savers to see the fieldwork in Tanzania Progress.
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Matthew, a shark biologist for The Shark Research Institute (SRI) has agreed to blog for Shark Savers, sending dispatches and photos of the unfolding Operation Whale Shark study. He is overseeing the study for SRI in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the M/V Kairos. This will be second season of field research taking place over the Tanzanian summer, from November 2007 through March 2008. Matthew had a very successful field season last year, tagging 25 whale sharks, identifying over 30 individuals using the area, and attaching 8 satellite telemetry tags to Mafia Island whale sharks. This upcoming season will be very exciting as observations on returning sharks and the return of satellite tag data will help to unravel population structure and migration patterns in the sharks under study.
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