Study and conservation of an annual aggregation of whale sharks in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Project technical report and financial summary to the Georgia Aquarium for the 2008 - 2009 project year.

Abstract

This report describes the 2008 - 2009 activities of a collaborative United States - Mexico project designed to provide scientific information in support of conservation efforts to protect the whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Working in collaboration with staff from the Georgia Aquarium, the project team comprises scientists from Mote's Center for Shark Research, biologists and resource managers from Proyecto Domino in Mexico, the University of South Florida in Tampa, Mexico's Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas, students from Mexican and U.S. universities, and ecotourism guides and fishermen from Quintana Roo, Mexico. Methods of study included conventional tagging, aerial surveys, satellite and archival tagging, feeding studies and the collection of tissue samples.