Day in the life: Whale shark conservation in Madagascar
7:00AM
It’s time to wake up - if I’ve not already been disturbed by the neighbor’s roosters - and prepare for the day ahead. I fight my way out of the mosquito net and head to the bathroom, the wall of humidity hitting me as I open my bedroom door. First on the agenda is breakfast so I throw on some clothes and wander through the villa’s beautiful garden to the dining area.
Breakfasts and dinners are served by the incredibly talented staff at the property. All volunteers enjoy these meals together and there’s more than enough food. I always leave the table stuffed and roll an extra crepe or two in napkins to take with me as a snack for the boat.
8:30AM
After I pack my spare swimwear, hat, sun cream and (now slightly squashed) crepes into my dry bag, I’m ready to head to the boat. We all meet outside the villa and walk 10 minutes through the village to our meeting point on the beach. The sun is strong on Nosy Be and we’re out on the water for around six hours a day so we cover up as much as possible. Hats, sunglasses and rash vests are a must!
The garden at the villa accommodation in Nosy Be.
8:45AM
We say hello to the project lead, boat captain and research scientist joining us on the boat today and walk down to the water with our fins, masks and snorkels. As we’re a few days into the project, we know the drill and what we’re looking for in the water. A fair amount is known about juvenile whale sharks who come to the same feeding grounds every year. The feeding spots are coastal and the creatures are surface feeders which means they’re fairly easy to find and study.
However very little is known about whale sharks outside of these hot spots. Before they’re about three meters long, and after they’re around eight meters long, we don’t have much research on them at all. It’s thought that they spend this time in the open ocean and potentially at much greater depth.
The team on board the boat, on the look out for whale sharks and sorting the collected bait fish samples.
9:00AM
The goal everyday is to get into the water with as many whale sharks as possible. This gives us a chance to photograph and log which whale shark has been sighted, and for the marine biologists to take biopsies and tag sharks where possible.
We all keep our eyes peeled for bait balls - big groups of fish splashing and jumping on the surface of the water. This is an indicator that there is also plankton and potentially a whale shark feeding. We zoom over in the boat then our amazingly skilled captain carefully edges around the bait ball looking for a shark. He always sees it first with his years of experience plus the help of polarized sunglasses.
At this point, we have our snorkeling gear on and are lined up at the back of the boat, ready to enter the water two at a time. As soon as the engine is switched off and we hear the “GO”, we hop in and swim as fast as we can to the shark. Everything moves very quickly underwater. The person with the camera takes a snapshot of the area behind their gills. This is used as a fingerprint - all photos uploaded to the international database are of this patch.
For the tagging or taking a biopsy, the biologist free dives down and uses a speargun to insert the tag or take the tissue sample. It doesn’t harm the shark but can cause them to swim away even faster so there is some serious speed and precision required here. Not to mention that the tags are costly and in limited supply so a failed attempt isn’t ideal!
A six metre long whale shark.
11:00AM
Some days we’ve been in and out the water around 10 times but today is quieter on the whale shark front. As we pause for a snack break, we see mobula rays somersaulting out of the water all around the boat. We have the chance to snorkel with these beautiful animals and watch them below us, flipping and twirling as they eat their own zooplankton snack.
1:00PM
We’re lucky enough to hop in the water and see a whale shark calmly hovering upright. This is called vertical feeding. The sharks open their wide mouths at the surface and hoover up their food. It’s an unforgettable moment shared with one of these gentle giants. We keep our distance and silently tread water as we watch.
Whenever we find a whale shark, we log the details on an iPad. This includes rough length, gender, location they were seen etc. Around 500 whale sharks have been logged in the waters around Nosy Be and the founder of the conservation project can recognise at least half by sight! If it’s a known whale shark, their name is also logged. Otherwise, the photo is later loaded onto the database to determine whether it’s a new shark or one that’s been seen in previous years.
The water and reef at the protected marine reserve of Nosy Tanikely.
1:30PM
The waters are calmer now, with the ocean looking like a flat glassy mirror. With no bait balls in sight, there isn’t much chance of spotting more whale sharks today. We pause the engine for lunch and whilst we’re enjoying our food, we see a family of humpback whales. Not a bad bonus sighting for the day!
3:00PM
After six hours at sea, we wrap up for the day and walk our weary, salty bodies back to the villa. After a shower or dip in the pool, most people take some time to have a nap, read or relax.
The full crew at the end of a hard day's work.
5:30PM
This evening we have a presentation from one of the researchers who is visiting from Mozambique (another whale shark hot spot). She tells us more details about her background, her team’s research and what she’ll be doing with the biopsies we’ve been watching her collect this week. It’s really interesting to learn more about the research we’ve had the chance to observe and understand how vital it is to the conservation of this endangered species.
7:00PM
We gather in the dining area for another fabulous three course meal. Madagascar is famous for its chocolate mousse and this is on the menu for dessert tonight! After dinner, some of the group head out to the beach to socialize for a couple of hours. I’m knackered so tuck myself into bed before another busy day on the water tomorrow!
