In 2015, Conservation International scientists in Indonesia performed a first: We attached satellite transmitters to the dorsal fins of whale sharks. These transmitters had never been mounted on whale sharks because the species was simply too big to catch — so our scientists partnered with local fishermen who had inadvertently captured whale sharks in their nets, then dived in to attach the transmitters before releasing the sharks. Working with our partners at the Georgia Aquarium, we’ve learned a lot about the charismatic species, including their migratory movements and diving behavior — much of it new to science.
Track whale sharks
Whale sharks previously tracked
Our fin-mount satellite tags have a maximum battery life of two years. Here’s what we learned from sharks with decommissioned tags.
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#177029 Toro
Over the course of nearly two years, this 5.42m male spent most of his time in Saleh Bay, but made three major excursions (each 3,000-5,000 km long) - two down into Australian waters and one east into the Banda Sea - frequently diving deep and hitting a record depth of 1879 meters.
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#173189 Swann
During his two-year deployment, this 6.73m male never left Saleh Bay - but his track covered nearly every inch of the bay and he frequently dived to the bottom of the bay to depths of 350 meters.
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#168182 Bruce
This 5.79m male was one of the first whale sharks tagged in Saleh Bay, Sumbawa, and one of our longest deployments at 888 days. Bruce remained in Saleh Bay without leaving for nearly 2.5 years. He suddenly swam south in February 2020, dived to 625m depth, and was never heard from again.
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#174666 Big Blue
Big Blue, a 4.16m male tagged in Cendrawasih Bay in October 2018, remained in Cendrawasih the length of his deployment, which only lasted 7 months. We believe his tag’s antenna may have been damaged, shortening his deployment; his maximum depth attained was 312 meters.
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#173195 Siti
Siti, measuring 5.60 meters and named for the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry, was deployed for 13 months before perishing while stranded in a shallow bay. Siti's tag showed a maximum depth of 450 meters during the time the shark spent in Cendrawasih Bay.
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#173194 Ellula II
Ellula II, a 5.82-meter male, covered a whopping 23,532 kilometers over 17 months. He completed two large loops during this time — one from Cendrawasih Bay to the Marshall Islands, and another between Cendrawasih and the Mariana Trench. He reached a maximum depth of 1,848 meters.
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#173190 Scotty
Scotty spent nearly his entire two-year deployment within Saleh Bay, Sumbawa, though his final transmission in January 2020 indicated he'd travelled northeast into the Banda Sea. At 5.43 meters in length, Scotty reached a maximum depth of 312 meters during his time in Saleh Bay.
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#168374 Junior
Junior displayed a clear annual migration over 24 months: feeding in Triton Bay from November through April, exploring the Arafura Sea and the Timor Gap in May, and returning to Kaimana in November. Along the way, he hit a maximum depth of 1,879 meters!
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#168373 Chris
Chris, a 6.65-meter male, spent the entirety of his 22-month deployment in Cendrawasih Bay. He travelled throughout the bay, at one point diving to 1,688 meters — the deepest any of our tagged sharks have reached in Cendrawasih. This shark was a true local adventurer!
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#168372 Craigo
Craigo, a 5.82-meter male, spent his entire 25-month deployment within Cendrawasih Bay, seldom straying from the dense baitfish schools of Kwatisore. He travelled far enough to record a maximum depth of 1,024 meters but spent most of his deployment less than 20 kilometers from shore.
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#168184 Sunbridge
Sunbridge was one of our first sharks tagged in Saleh Bay, Sumbawa, where he spent his entire 14-month deployment. Though this 6.23-meter male spent a fair bit of time on the surface, he frequently visited the bay's bottom at a maximum depth of 350 meters.
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#168180 Peter
Peter made two, three- to five-month journeys from Cendrawasih into northern Pacific waters, surfacing frequently during his offshore excursions, perhaps feeding on tuna spawn. He dived to a maximum of 875 meters and covered over 9,600 kilometers in 15 months.
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#168179 Nexus II
Nexus II left Cendrawasih Bay for the continental shelf break between Papua and PNG, apparently feeding for three months before returning to Cendrawasih. He repeated the journey the next year, possibly dining on offshore tuna spawn. His maximum dive over 13 months was 1,250 meters.
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#165905 Sebastian
Sebastian spent most of his 27-month deployment in Cendrawasih Bay but also recorded a visit to the Mapia atoll and ventured past Biak into PNG coastal waters. He eventually returned to Cendrawasih, where his tag's battery expired, having logged a maximum dive of 1,125 meters.
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#165321 Yoda
Yoda had a lengthy 26-month deployment, spending all of that time in Cendrawasih Bay. The 4.83-meter male dove to a maximum depth of 1,375 meters, reaching the bottom of the bay at one of its deepest points.
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#165319 Spock
Over five months, Spock travelled to Fakfak and the Watubela Islands, past Aru into Australian waters, and through the Banda Sea north of Wakatobi National Park. The 6.7-meter male was discovered four months after contact was lost, and his tag was removed and downloaded.
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#165318 Kaimana
After being tagged in Triton Bay, Kaimana turned south toward Australian waters, then north again to Timor-Leste, past Fakfak to Misool Island before arriving at Seram Trough. Altogether, this 4.46-meter male covered 5,500 kilometers in nine months, reaching a depth of 1,250 meters.
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#165317 Dipsy
Dipsy, a 4.57-meter male, spent much of his 17-month deployment in Triton Bay but also visited the Aru and Kei Islands — one of our first Kaimana whale sharks to explore the Arafura Sea — before returning to Kaimana. He hit a maximum depth of 625 meters.
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#163080 Muarwa Barnacles
Tagged in Kaimana's Triton Bay, this 5.95-meter male swam north to Raja Ampat and Misool Island, south to Bintuni Bay and the Fakfak coast, before returning to Triton Bay, where his signal was lost. Over five months, he reached a maximum depth of 454 meters.
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#158696 Mr. Casper
Measuring 4.65 meters, Mr. Caspar was deployed for two years and never left Cendrawasih Bay. He dove to a maximum of 984 meters, several times heading north and nearly out of the bay, but each time returned to his place of tagging in Kwatisore.
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#158695 Cheggers
Measuring 5.6 meters, Cheggers spent several months swimming around Cendrawasih Bay before heading east to Chuuk in Micronesia and diving to 1,375 meters. He was later found back in Cendrawasih Bay 21 months after deployment, having covered at least 9,200 kilometers.
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#144883 Sharky McSharkface
Named in an online contest, this 4.5-meter male provided 25 continuous months of data. Sharky stayed largely in Cendrawasih Bay and recorded an impressive dive of 1,288 meters (4,226 feet) — a depth that would crush a human.
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#153664 Wally
Over 15 months, this six-meter male closely hugged the coastline of New Guinea, probing several large river outlets. Wally was likely targeting the baitfish schools often found in the coastal waters off these big estuaries. He logged 3,800 kilometers (2,361 miles) during his deployment.
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#158580 Kodo
During his nine-month deployment, Kodo swam northwest to Palau, then on to the Philippines, back down to Indonesia, into Australia and finally settled in southern Papua, Indonesia. He frequently visited mangrove swamps and mud-flat regions — not the habitats typically associated with whale sharks.
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#151097 Fijubeca
At just 3 meters in length (about 10 feet), Fijubeca logged an impressive 9,000 kilometers (5,592 miles) during his deployment. He visited eight of the Bird’s Head Seascape's marine protected areas (MPAs), reaffirming the placement of MPAs as related to megafauna migratory routes.
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#144884 Blue Bandit
Tagged in June 2015, Blue Bandit left Cendrawasih Bay, travelled north to Palau, then headed down through Raja Ampat and into the Arafura Sea before his tagged stopped working. Along the way, he logged 3,735 kilometers and reached a maximum depth of 1,808 meters.
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#144886 Jude
Seven-meter Jude spent most of his time exploring Cendrawasih Bay — occasionally diving to the bottom at 1,250 meters — though on one occasion he ventured along the northern Papua coastline to Jayapura. We removed his tag after 19 months when his antenna was damaged.
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#158582 Pongo
Pongo was a real homebody, remaining within Cendrawasih Bay for the entire time we tracked this 6-meter (about 20 feet) shark. During his time in the bay, he dove to a maximum depth of 768 meters (2,520 feet).
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#144881 Mitch
Mitch traveled some 3,300 kilometers (186 miles) during his year-long deployment, including a northward jaunt into Palauan waters and two trips to Raja Ampat. He visited seven of the Bird’s Head marine protected areas and reached a max depth of 1,336 meters (4,383 feet).
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#158584 Merlin
Like Pongo, Merlin was tagged in February 2016 and remained in Cendrawasih Bay for his entire deployment — in his case, 19 months — reaching a max depth of 360 meters (1,181 feet). He is still frequently spotted in Cendrawasih, with numerous sightings reported in November 2017.
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#153666 Yalgal
Yalgal was an active traveler early in his 21-month deployment, crossing the northern Bird’s Head from Biak to Raja Ampat and back, and diving to 1,125 meters (3,691 feet) before returning to Cendrawasih Bay. He was sighted frequently in November 2017, still in Cendrawasih.
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#153665 Moby
Traveling between Cendrawasih Bay and the southern Mariana Trench over nearly two years, Moby recorded one of the deepest known dives for whale sharks, reaching 1,856 meters (6,089 feet). All told, this 6-meter (about 20 feet) shark swam nearly 8,000 kilometers (4,971 miles).
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#158694 Ellula
Measuring 6.2 meters (over 20 feet), Ellula spent much of his 10-month deployment in eastern Cendrawasih waters, including near the island of Yapen, diving to 875 meters (2,871 feet). Antenna damage prompted the removal of his tag during the August 2017 CI-Georgia Aquarium health assessment.
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#165320 Captain Kirk
Captain Kirk was one of the first whale sharks we tagged in Kaimana waters, located in the southern Bird’s Head region. During his short, three-month deployment, he remained around Kaimana and dived to a maximum depth of 150 meters (492 feet).
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The Research
How are sharks tagged, and what have we learned?
In 2015, Conservation International (CI) scientists attached satellite transmitters to the dorsal fins of whale sharks. These transmitters had never been mounted on whale sharks because the species was simply too big to catch — so our scientists partnered with local fishermen who had inadvertently captured whale sharks in their nets, then dived in to attach the transmitters before releasing the sharks. Working with our partners at the Georgia Aquarium, we’ve learned a lot about the charismatic species, including their migratory movements and diving behavior — much of it new to science. Learn more about these interesting and mysterious creatures. http://ci-intl.org/2vfLSud
How are sharks tagged?
Local fishermen call Conservation International scientists when whale sharks are inadvertently caught in their nets. Before the sharks are freed, scientists attach a satellite transmitter to their dorsal fin, with minimal disturbance to the animals. The transmitters’ batteries last about two years, and data is relayed whenever the shark’s fin breaks the water’s surface.
In 2017, we downloaded 25 months’ worth of high-resolution data on diving and migratory behavior from the tag of one shark, affectionately named Sharky McSharkface — the largest data set ever recorded for this species.
What have we learned?
A satellite tag has shown that “Moby,” a 15-foot male, has one of the deepest recorded dives of any whale shark at nearly 6,000 feet — more than a mile beneath the water’s surface. Other notable findings include:
- These whale sharks (tagged in West Papua, Indonesia) are not as migratory as many believed. They disperse periodically in different directions, covering distances up to 1,000 miles, often to return to ‘home waters’ in a matter of weeks.
- They are very individualistic, going their own ways for reasons unknown. We’ve tracked two males of similar ages with utterly different migration habits, one largely staying put since we mounted his tag, while the other has ventured into the western Pacific.
- The tagging site where whale sharks feed is only a few hundred feet deep, but when they travel farther afield, they dive remarkably deep.
Conservation International’s partnership with the Georgia Aquarium
Conservation International collaborated with Georgia Aquarium to carry out health exams and blood draws on 20 wild whale sharks to provide baseline health and ensure animal welfare during our tagging research. The results have indicated that tagging does not cause additional stress to these whale sharks.
Combining the aquarium’s expertise on whale shark care with Conservation Internationals’s experience on the ground in West Papua, we are working together to ensure that whale shark tourism — a growing and lucrative industry — is managed sustainably and doesn’t adversely impact the animals’ health.
Kids adopting whale sharks
Conservation International recently launched a school program in Singapore in which students can adopt individual whale sharks and use this tool to track their progress daily, enabling them to learn about whale shark behavior and the ecosystem on which this species relies. The program aims to encourage greater awareness of the importance of healthy marine ecosystems and humans’ effect on them.
What is the Bird’s Head Seascape?
These sharks are tagged in the waters of the Bird’s Head Seascape in West Papua, Indonesia — an area that is home to a wider array of marine creatures than anywhere else in the world. These waters, spanning an area the size of Great Britain, boast 75 percent of all the world’s coral species and more than 1,700 species of fish. This rich biodiversity increases the area’s resilience to stressors such as climate change, potentially offering clues for how coral reefs can adapt to warming seas.
Learn more about the Bird’s Head Seascape
