An Unprecedented Aggregation of Whale Sharks, Rhincodon typus, in Mexican Coastal Waters of the Caribbean Sea
Author:
de la Parra Venegas, Rafael
Hueter, Robert
Gonzalez Cano, Jaime
Tyminski, John
Gregorio Remolina, Jose
Maslanka, Mike
Ormos, Andrea
Weigt, Lee A.
Carlson, Bruce
Dove, Alistair
Object Type:
Smithsonian staff publication
Electronic document
Year:
2011
Topic:
Natural History
Citation:
PLoS One, 6(4): 1-8.
Abstract:
Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, are often perceived as solitary behemoths that live and feed in the open ocean. To the contrary, evidence is accumulating that they are gregarious and form seasonal aggregations in some coastal waters. One such aggregation occurs annually north of Cabo Catoche, off Isla Holbox on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Here we report a second, much denser aggregation of whale sharks (dubbed "the Afuera") that occurs east of the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. The 2009 Afuera event comprised the largest aggregation of whale sharks ever reported, with up to 420 whale sharks observed in a single aerial survey, all gathered in an elliptical patch of ocean approximately 18 km(2). Plankton studies indicated that the sharks were feeding on dense homogenous patches of fish eggs, which DNA barcoding analysis identified as belonging to little tunny, Euthynnus alletteratus. This contrasts with the annual Cabo Catoche aggregation nearby, where prey consists mostly of copepods and sergestid shrimp. Increased sightings at the Afuera coincide with decreased sightings at Cabo Catoche, and both groups have the same sex ratio, implying that the same animals are likely involved in both aggregations; tagging data support this idea. With two whale shark aggregation areas, high coastal productivity and a previously-unknown scombrid spawning ground, the northeastern Yucatan marine region is a critical habitat that deserves more concerted conservation efforts.
Scientists discover the largest assembly of whale sharks ever recorded
Creator:
Smithsonian Science
Type:
Blog posts
Smithsonian staff publications
Blog posts
Update Date:
2011-05-26T02:32:37Z
Topic:
Science
Synopsis:
Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are often thought to be solitary behemoths that live and feed in the open ocean. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues, however, have found that this is not necessarily the case, finding that whale sharks can be gregarious and amass in the hundreds to feed in coastal waters. Aggregations, or schools, of whale sharks have been witnessed in the past, ranging from several individual sharks to a few dozen. However this new research, which involved both surface and aerial surveys, has revealed an enormous aggregation of whale sharks—the largest eve [...]
