Satellite tagging of whale sharks and how results can benefit future conservation efforts in Thailand
Project Leader
The Thai Whale Shark Project, founded in 2017, has identified over 400 individual whale sharks in Thai waters, making Thailand a global hotspot for this endangered species.
What is Thai Whale Sharks?
Founded in 2017, it was set up to identify the number of individuals found within Thai waters.
So far through platforms and images submitted through Wild book over 300 Individual Whale Sharks in the Gulf of Thailand and over 100 Individual Whale Sharks in the Andaman Sea have been identified. Thailand is now recognised as a whale shark hot spot along with 29 other locations globally.
But it can only go so far….
The next step is to figure out where they are moving too and this is where tagging comes in. The tags are implanted into the area just beneath the dorsal fin, when the animal comes close to the surface and the tag hits the surface data is transmitted to Argos satellites to map the movement of the individual.
PROJECT LEADER
Kirsty Magson
Kirsty is a marine biologist and marine conservationist who has been working in the field for over 10 years. She specializes in elasmobranchs, working on the ecology and distribution of blacktip reef sharks around Koh Tao, Thailand and is the founder of Thai Whale Sharks, a project that has identified over 400 different whale sharks within Thai Waters and has promoted safe and positive interactions for whale sharks and those in the water with them. This project has now entered a satellite tagging stage which will help to increase the information known about whale shark movement within Thailand.
When not working on sharks Kirsty is the program manager of a marine conservation program based on Koh Tao, and is often found rescuing animals above and below the water.
Why tagging whalesharks is important?
Data collected will help to better protect the animals as they move, improve collaborations with neighbouring countries and identify key areas in their migratory patterns within the region.
The data will also help to understand where our population moves which is important as only 1 whale shark has been resighted outside of Thailand.
This project is a big step for shark conservation within Thailand and is one of a few very exciting projects happening for shark conservation. Due to the nature of the whale shark being both a protected and a preserved species the project was green lit by the DMCR with the Thai Whale Shark team as lead researchers and scientists.
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