About This Project

Whale sharks aggregate each year in Bahía de La Paz, Mexico, yet their local residency patterns remain poorly understood. By deploying acoustic receivers in the aggregation site and deploying acoustic transmitters on sharks, we will assess their residency and movements in the area. We believe that whale sharks move throughout the whole aggregation area instead of staying all year-round. Understanding residency patterns is crucial for effective conservation and tourism management.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Whale sharks aggregate in Bahía de La Paz, Mexico, attracting thousands of tourists each year. Whale shark tourism in La Paz occurs between October and April, and it is regulated through a management plan. Tourism regulations include a specific number of tourism boats to operate based on the number of sharks observed at the surface. However, these estimates assume all sharks present are visible during surveys, yet whale sharks often spend time below the surface and may go undetected. As a result, some individuals may remain in the bay without being observed, while others may leave the area quickly. Understanding whale sharks residency and how frequently they move in and out of the area is therefore essential for sustainable management. An acoustic telemetry approach can provide better insights into whale shark residency and movements within this aggregation site, and reveal whether individuals exhibit year-round residency or use different habitats during the off-season.

What is the significance of this project?

Bahía de La Paz hosts one of the most important whale shark aggregations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, but key aspects of their local behavior remain unknown. Knowing how long whale sharks stay in the bay and which areas they use most frequently is critical for effective conservation and management. This information can help guide tourism regulations, identify important habitats, and support science-based decision-making. By using acoustic tracking technology, this project will generate the first detailed data on whale shark residency in the bay. The results will contribute to the conservation of this endangered species while helping ensure that tourism activities remain sustainable for both wildlife and local communities.

What are the goals of the project?

This project aims to enhance our understanding of how whale sharks use Bahía de La Paz by tracking their presence and movements within the bay. Specifically, we aim to determine how long individual whale sharks stay in the area, how frequently they enter and leave the bay, and which areas they use most often. To do this, we will deploy three acoustic receivers at key locations within the aggregation area and tag whale sharks with acoustic transmitters. These receivers will monitor shark movements over 10 months.
To achieve this, we will (1) estimate the residency time of whale sharks within Bahía de La Paz by recording how long tagged individuals remain detectable within the receiver network; (2) assess movements within the bay by detecting when tagged sharks move between different areas monitored by acoustic receivers; and (3) evaluate detection gaps in visual monitoring, determining whether some sharks remain in the area without being observed during regular sighting surveys.