Monday, May 26, 2014
Whale Shark Encounter 342014123836
Another very proud episode in my diving career. I was privileged enough and extremely fortunate to have spotted 2 juvenile Whale Sharks at Panglao, Bohol, Phillipines in Jan 2010. The very first sighting of Whale Sharks at Panglao EVER! As they were juveniles, I had a very strong suspicion that they accidentally strayed into Panglao's waters. Panglao is a location where there is heavy boat traffic, and these gentle giants would normally eschew such congested and noisy environments. And to my great surprise and jubilation, one of the whale sharks I encountered, was spotted in another location, Oslob, in mid May 2013! I am incredibly elated that the shark is alive and well, as these magnificent creatures are mercilessly hunted for the nefarious and ever growing sharks' fin industry. The researchers involved tracked me down in April 2014! Once again, it is indeed very thrilling as an amateur underwater photographer to have my photos credited and uploaded onto an International Database such as whaleshark.org
My Whale Shark Encounter number is 342014123836 and is identified as P-573. He's a Male and as of May 2013, has grown to 6.5 metres!
To demonstrate the excitement, magnitude and importance of this match here are the fast and furious e-mails between all parties involved:
2 April 2014
My Whale Shark Encounter number is 342014123836 and is identified as P-573. He's a Male and as of May 2013, has grown to 6.5 metres!
To demonstrate the excitement, magnitude and importance of this match here are the fast and furious e-mails between all parties involved:
2 April 2014
Hi guys,
I found a picture online of a whale shark taken by "Roger Won" on the 11-Jan-2010 of a
whale shark in Alona.
We've visually matched the individual shark to one in our database (lamave.org) and I'd
love to add it to the international database (whaleshark.org) but I wanted the author's
permission. Is it one of you guys or an old client perhaps?
Many thanks!
Gonzalo
3 April 2014
Hi Gonzalo,
Roger is an old customer of ours.. Please contact him directly for the permission..
He has been CC'd with this mail..
Regards,
Liza
Philippine Fun Divers, Inc.
Hi Roger,
Liza from Philippine Fun Diver CC'd you on the previous e-mail.
Do you have a raw picture of the whale shark you encountered in Alona on the 11-Jan-2010?
I'm the lead researcher for whale sharks with Lamave (lamave.org)
here in the Visayas. We are trying to map the movements of the sharks
around the Philippines and this whale shark has been previously matched
at a known location!
If you could send me a
~2mb photo of the left side/flank of the whale shark I can upload to the
international whale shark database (whaleshark.org) and copy you in as the photographer.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Gonzalo
Hi Liza and Gonzalo!
Thank
you so much for contacting me!! What exciting news!!! I would be more
than happy to share my photos with you guys!! However I don't normally
shoot on RAW format! Also, forgive me, I'm a little confused. My
sightings of Whale Sharks thus far have only been in Donsol and Bohol,
(Panglao). I'm confused as to which pictures you are referring because I
have absolutely no idea where Alona is!! Please advise and I look
forward to hearing from you soon. And I will offer any assistance I
possibly can!
Warmest Wishes,
Roger Won
Hi Roger,
Alona Beach is in Bohol!
Liza
Alona Beach is in Bohol!
Liza
Hi Roger,
Thanks for getting back to me.
No need for raw, just a 2Mb or bigger quality would do ;-)
Roaming
the internet I found the attached file! Hence I thought I'd try to find
you to ask your permission and see if you have another photos of the
like?
We use the spot pattern on the left side
of the whale sharks as a fingerprint as it's unique to every animal. By
using this, we can map the movement of whale sharks from opportunistic
photos such as the ones you took.
We use the
left side of the animal as an international standard, but we can
visually match it with our local database of 250 animals if it's not the
proper angle or the right side so it's all useful. The more
perpendicular to the side (above the pectoral fin area) the better!
Thanks again,
Gonzalo
Hello Gonzalo!! Thanks for the speedy reply!! I'm at
work now! Once I'm home which will be after 10 pm, I'll send you the
remaining photos of this specimen to you!! Thank you!!! :-D
Best Regards,
Roger Won
Hi Roger, that's grand, thanks a million. If you have any other pics
of whale sharks send me also! Also place and time of day, and depth, of
encounters help :-)
:-D
4 April 2014
Thanks again!
Gonzalo
Hello Gonzalo and Liza!
As requested, here are the photos of the Whale Sharks taken in Panglao.
And here are the photos of the Whale Sharks I took in Donsol. The
picture quality isn't that great as the water was rather murky. Hope
this helps with your database!
:-D
Hi Roger,
Warmest Regards,
Roger Won
:-)
Thanks for the email :-)
It
looks like you encountered 2 different animals in Panglao. Do you
remember the details like the date and time of when they occurred?
Gonzo
My pleasure Gonzalo!!
Oh my God!! You guys are
amazing! There was indeed 2 juvenile Whale Sharks in Panglao! I saw them
on 11 Jan 2010 at 1530 hrs. But the encounter with each Whale Shark
lasted only a few minutes. I'm presuming that because they were
juveniles, they were not quite used to humans just yet. If I recall
correctly, one individual measured roughly 2 metres and the other was
slightly larger at 2.5 or maybe even 3 metres. Hope this helps!
Roger Won
:-)
Thanks for all the info Roger.
The animal with the
left flank we can see was spotted in Oslob in Mid- May 2013 for the
first time. The second one we can't match unfortunately as the angle is
too difficult to run through the ID software, but we'll keep it on
record should we visually match it.
You'll get email updates if they are seen elsewhere again!
Thanks again :-)
Gonzo
Thank you soooo much Gonzalo!! I'm just so happy that I could
help!! Thanks for the update! It warms my heart that the whale shark is
safe and alive!! I always feel so devastated whenever I hear about them
being finned. 😔
You guys are Angels for your dedication and passion! Thank you thank you!
Warmest wishes,
Roger Won
Roger, you are too kind ;-)
Hello!
Just a quick e-mail to let you know that the whale shark encounter that you submitted has been MATCHED to a previously identified shark in the Whale Shark Photo-identification Library.
This information is important to unlock some of the mystery surrounding these highly migratory animals.
Just a quick e-mail to let you know that the whale shark encounter that you submitted has been MATCHED to a previously identified shark in the Whale Shark Photo-identification Library.
This information is important to unlock some of the mystery surrounding these highly migratory animals.
Thanks again for your input.
Sincerely,
Zaven Arzoumanian
President, Wild Me
Sincerely,
Zaven Arzoumanian
President, Wild Me
Hello!
Thank you for submitting data about your whale shark encounter. We will use this information to assist scientific research and global conservation initiatives.
The information that you have submitted has been encapsulated in an "encounter" that we track. Each encounter is assigned a unique number, and you can view that encounter at any time using the link below or by going to the Wildbook for Whale Sharks (http://www.whaleshark.org).
We will keep you informed of any changes to your submitted encounter, and email you if the shark is matched to another shark within the Wildbook database. We will also let you know if/when and where your shark is re-sighted by other community members.
Sincerely,
The Wild Me team
Thank you for submitting data about your whale shark encounter. We will use this information to assist scientific research and global conservation initiatives.
The information that you have submitted has been encapsulated in an "encounter" that we track. Each encounter is assigned a unique number, and you can view that encounter at any time using the link below or by going to the Wildbook for Whale Sharks (http://www.whaleshark.org).
We will keep you informed of any changes to your submitted encounter, and email you if the shark is matched to another shark within the Wildbook database. We will also let you know if/when and where your shark is re-sighted by other community members.
Sincerely,
The Wild Me team
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
