With a primary focus on photo-identification, the project permits our researchers, divers and boats to maintain a safe and non-invasive distance from the Whale sharks and from other boats and divers while collecting valuable data.

This approach minimizes the risk of "trap response" and allows for longer in-water encounters with the whale sharks.
In addition, enforcing a safe interaction distance protects the local dive tourism industry and the value of each Whale Shark to it. Physical contact with our sharks is not permitted, and our divers are not allowed within three meters of any Whale Shark.

Good science requires consistent data collection, qualified analysts, and peer review. With the assistance of ECOCEAN in training material development and local workshops, our staff and divers are methodically collecting photographs and using ECOCEAN software to identify each of the whale sharks that visit Thailand.
These photographs and the data collected with them (size, location, sex, etc.) are the basic units of mark-recapture needed to model and better understand the population dynamics of our whale sharks.

Our data is collected systematically season after season and made available to the researchers participating in the ECOCEAN Library. With their help, we will publish the results of our five-year study at periodic intervals in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Close Encounters with Rhincodon typus off Koh Phra Thong are common

Methodology

The emphasis of the project is on photo-identification. All staff and visiting divers are trained in proper data collection techniques, including how to photograph a Whale Shark for computer-aided identification.
All data collected in our project is entered into the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library. By promptly adding our data to the ECOCEAN Library, we emphasize transparency in our work and are ensuring that:
1. Collected data is visible to researchers worldwide as well as to local conservation efforts in Thailand.
2. Data is collected in a manner consistent with other whale shark research projects, such as at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia and Utila, Honduras. By collecting data in an identical manner, our research can feed into global studies and international efforts toward whale shark conservation.
3. Participants in our research remain connected to their whale sharks and are informed of our progress through the automated email system of the ECOCEAN Library. By submitting photographs, divers in our project can receive an email if their shark is identified and each time it is subsequently sighted.

Doing research

Using the baseline of sharks from previous seasons (2005-2007), we will seek to answer questions such as:
* Do male and female whale sharks travel the same routes?
* Do these sharks travel one or multiple migration routes over the course of their lives?
* Are these Whale Sharks closely related to other known populations?