Smallest of a large species

Published in 2009

In March 2009, a 0.3-metre-long baby whale shark, which was found in the Philippines, made news around the globe for being the smallest living specimen in recorded history of the world’s biggest fish.

“This beautiful and charismatic animal remains a mystery,” says Australian marine conservationist Brad Norman, who was named a Rolex Laureate in 2006 for his worldwide photo-ID network to monitor and conserve the gentle marine giant. “The discovery of the whale shark is very exciting,” he enthuses. “Perhaps the elusive pupping [breeding] ground for this species is in the Philippines.”

Of further significance is the prospect of monitoring the young whale shark over the next 60 to 100 years when it returns to this area where the largest known annual congregation of whale sharks has been tracked. These huge fish, once hunted in the Philippines, are now being protected there.

This whale shark, which could grow as long as 14m, has already been entered in Rolex Laureate Brad Norman’s on-line photo library.

This whale shark, which could grow as long as 14m, has already been entered in Rolex Laureate Brad Norman’s on-line photo library, ECOCEAN, so that it can be identified in future sightings. ©WWF-Philippines/Elson Q. Aca

Pilar, a town adjacent to Donsol in the Philippine province of Sorsogon, was the scene of the drama. Elson Aca, the local WWF project leader, heard about the plight of a whale shark that had been caught and tied up for sale. He worked quickly with government officials to free the fish that, to his amazement, turned out to be the smallest specimen he had ever seen. Before releasing it, he documented its size and unique markings on Brad Norman’s on-line ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-Identification Library.

“There have been only 14 specimens ever recorded under one metre, and, apart from these, only a handful of whale sharks under 2.5m have ever been seen,” says Brad Norman. These baby whale sharks will potentially grow to 14m or larger, a size that the Laureate likens to “a bus under water".

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