Sharks and Whale Sharks in Moalboal, Philippines

Sharks, as apex predators, are crucial to the stability of their underwater world, yet they've always been feared, maligned and misunderstood.

They're among the planet's most successful hunters, and they've ruled the seas unchallenged for nearly 400 million years. But now, after just a few decades of persecution and over-fishing, they're in danger of being killed off for ever. (The Shark Trust)

Whale sharks in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

Verified whale shark encounters increase in Moalboal year by year. Here you find an updated list with the latest whale shark sightings in Moalboal. Some dive centers in Moalboal (Sea Exploers, Neptune, Seaquest, Abyss) work together in recording these sightings. Click here for a (incomplete) list: Whale Shark Watch Board

Two organizations are dedicated in whale shark research. Both organizations are asking divers who had the luck to make some underwater pictures to send them these pictures for scientific reasons. As Mark Holmberg from ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-ID Library explains: "To help us uniquely identify individual whale sharks from photographs, we just completed work on a pattern-matching system that allows us to scan for other photos of the same shark if we have good left- or right-side shots of the shark's natural skin patterning. This is an excellent and very possibly more reliable method of tracking these animals than traditional spear-based invasive tagging." Click here for the full text of the e-mail we got from Mark regarding whale shark conservation.

Here are two links with more info:

Hammerhead Sharks in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

Until 1998 we had every year hammerhead sightings at Pescador Island , especially from January to May. In 1998 these sightings radically decreased. We don't know why. Some see a connection with the El Nino, who brought warmer water in those days. Again, Moalboal were very lucky because we weren't affected by coral bleaching due to the great depth of the Tanon Strait . But some people reported a big fishing fleet cruising through the Visayas, on the hunt of shark meat. Fact is, since then hammerheads sightings in the whole Visayas dropped dramatically. We cannot do much against an El Nino, but we challenge every diver to do his best against the practice of big time commercial shark fishing fleets.

The bigger picture
(asian diver magazine oct/nov 2001)

Whale sharks have been under constant threat from humans. Hundreds of Whale Sharks are literally butchered every year. Unlike predatory shark meat, whale shark meat is edible and much sought after in Asian markets. Taiwanese are the biggest culprits in their obsession with this meat. Fishing fleets are now using full time spotter aircraft to direct fishing boats to the sharks in the open ocean. Recently, in Sulawesi, the Taiwanese were responsible for the muss-murder of hundreds of whale sharks, dolphins, dugongs and turtles, as miles of monofilament nets were spread across the Lembeh Straits. Although such illicit practices outraged the world, these culprits go away with only light penalties. Now sub-contractors are using sophisticated military hardware I their mass slaughter practices. The continued loss of these helpless creatures might soon see them extinct, unless we can act and do something to counteract the slaughter. As individuals, it would be difficult to achieve this goal; we need to add to the ripples already generated by organizations such as the Shark Trust. By signing petitions, we can create waves of increasing pressure on these dubious governments by promoting actions affecting their overseas trading potential. For example, by imposing international embargoes. However, in countries with very little respect for any form of sentient life, it is not going to be an easy task. Make your opinion worth its weight at www.sharktrust.org.