Search

This study examined whale shark behaviour using fixed-wing aerial surveys in Ningaloo Marine Park between 2007 and 2009. The aims of the project were to develop and trial a method to test for impacts of tourism vessels and swimmers on whale shark behaviour. Whale sharks made significantly more directional changes when vessels were present, with approximately twice as many changes in direction observed per scan when a vessel was present. Whale sharks also maintained neutral behaviours, such as surface swimming, swimming at depth, resurfacing, or no reaction during interactions and, notably, more of these were recorded when a vessel was present. This suggests that, while behaviours were maintained regardless of the presence of vessels, whale sharks may have still responded to vessels by changing direction more frequently. The aerial observations were effective in detecting an increase in directional changes but further behavioural studies are required to improve our understanding of natural diving and surfacing behaviour in whale sharks. Alternative research platforms and technologies may be necessary to investigate whale shark behaviour in more detail and to further evaluate potential impacts of tourism interactions on whale sharks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]