SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS IN THE MALDIVES

8 min readFeb 22, 2024

Shockingly, 66 percent of whale sharks in the Maldives have been injured in their lifetime. But conservation snorkelling cruises are helping these gentle giants reclaim their space.

A broad shadow in the water ahead, easy to see because everything around it is a flamboyant shade of turquoise. The pilot brings her drone back to land on the deck of the gulet; the boat captain eases off the throttle; you can hear the lapping waves.

The shape and size of the shadow make it unmistakable. It’s a whale shark — not a shark at all, but the world’s largest fish. This gentle giant lives a peaceable existence in tropical waters around the world, moving ponderously and feeding on plankton.

Whilst whale sharks are believed to grow to up to 18m long — and most fully grown adults come in at a respectable 12m — the whale sharks here, at Ari Atoll in the Maldives, clock in between 8–9m. Smaller, but that’s still the length of a beach volleyball net.

If you haven’t come out on deck yet, the sound of stamping above your head — or a shout down the hatch — will bring you up top, where people are already leaning over to look, and reaching for their snorkels.

But before you swim, you need to find out exactly who you’ve just spotted.

WE PUT UP THE DRONE AND IMMEDIATELY FOUND A WHALE SHARK IN AMONGST SEVERAL REEF MANTAS AND A SWIRLING SCHOOL OF ELECTRIC-BLUE FUSILIER FISH.

Spotted sharks

On a Maldives whale shark conservation cruise, you can join researchers in their big fish mission. Local charity the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) has identified hundreds and hundreds of individual whale sharks, most of them around the SAMPA zone — the South Ari Marine Protected Area. Their app, the Big Fish Network, means that you can upload images of whale sharks you’ve seen and find named individuals. Like Saipan, a regular visitor. Or Moodhuge Handaan — who is very pale, experts believe, from spending lots of time feeding at great depth.

South Ari Atoll whale sharks are a special bunch. Not only are most of them male, but unlike other whale sharks who feast on surface-dwelling plankton, they get their food from the chest freezer that is the bottom of the ocean, diving up to 1.5km down to feed. Then they return to the surface to recover and warm up in waters that reach 30°C.

South Ari Atoll is also special because, very unusually for the species, whale sharks are here year-round. That’s because South Ari Atoll is a secondary nursey — a place where young male whale sharks hang out. They can live to up to 150 years old and so it can take 30 years for the male whale sharks to reach maturity.

What they do for a century and a half is largely unknown. So elusive is the whale shark that we don’t know where in the world they go to mate or give birth.

“Guests are really surprised by how little is known about the whale shark,” says Chloe Winn, lead in-field coordinator and communications manager for the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme. She’s so passionate about whale sharks that she goes to look for them on her days off. “The quest to understand more about the world’s biggest fish is an endlessly intriguing one,” she says.

Recently, Chloe met an unknown whale shark: “We put up the drone and immediately found a whale shark in amongst several reef mantas and a swirling school of electric-blue fusilier fish.” She got to name him: “Badi Edhuru, after a Maldivian folklore character… Every so often they really surprise you with their behaviour and where they turn up. Truly, it feels like a gift.” Not bad for a day off.

THE SAMPA ZONE

It’s little wonder whale sharks have chosen this place as their nursery. With its blue waters and matching skies, the South Ari Atoll in the Maldives is an idyllic setting. On a map of the area, you can see large amorphous lumps that look like islands. It’s only when you look at a map key that you realise that this is all coral reef — and the islands themselves are tiny flecks on its surface.

To the west of the atoll: ocean, ocean and more ocean. Somalia, the next landmass, is 2,800km away and the ocean floor quickly drops to 1,500m — perfect for all sorts of other large pelagic species, too, like manta and eagle rays.

South Ari Atoll is dominated by the sea, but the small flecks of coral-ringed land are important. There are four local islands, where Maldivians live, bordering the protected area, and four resort islands — uninhabited but for hotels — nearby. Both local people and tourists have had a huge impact on the whale sharks.

WHALE SHARK TOURISM

When a boat spots a whale shark, it doesn’t take long for other boats to follow on, for snorkellers to pile into the water — sometimes 100 at a time from 20 or so boats. In 2013, the whale shark tourism industry in the Maldives was worth $9.4m. Now it’s worth even more.

EVERY SO OFTEN THEY REALLY SURPRISE YOU WITH THEIR BEHAVIOUR AND WHERE THEY TURN UP. TRULY, IT FEELS LIKE A GIFT.

Identifying whale sharks is easy — you just need to look for the injury. Surfacing whale sharks risk being mown down by the propellers of the many motor boats ferrying tourists. What’s more, injured whale sharks are prone to being injured again as they recover.

Worse, the MWSRP report that the number of whale sharks seen sporting significant injuries is on the rise. In 2006, it was 24 percent. In 2019, it had jumped to 45 percent. The charity calculates that 66 percent of the area’s whale shark population have been injured in their lifetime. Boats are coming in too fast for these slow-moving surface-dwellers, with terrible results.

Whale shark numbers in the area have been falling steadily over the years. At the same time, the ocean in the area has warmed by 1.1°C; global warming is likely to change whale shark behaviour as it changes their current habitats.

And there are other threats, too.

“People take sharks for their fin. That is against the law — but people still do it,” says UB Waseem, senior guide at our conservation tour specialists Secret Paradise Maldives.

66 PERCENT OF THE AREA’S WHALE SHARK POPULATION HAVE BEEN INJURED IN THEIR LIFETIMES; 45 PERCENT OF THOSE SIGHTED HAVE MAJOR INJURIES.

Change is coming

In living memory, whale sharks were a common quarry for Maldivian fishermen — as a result, whale sharks used to be protected under fisheries legislation, which prevented shark finning and banned feeding.

Legislation has now been updated so that they are now protected under environmental law instead. As interest in conserving whale sharks has grown, former hunters are now happily employed in the tourism industry, putting their knowledge to good use guiding guests.

But whilst laws are in place for the whale sharks’ protection, enforcement is still difficult in the open water. Getting boats to check their speed in the SAMPA zone is difficult. MWSRP have resorted to posting graphic images of injured whale sharks online, alongside the shocking statistics of their injury rates.

“The rules are not being policed,” says Ruth Franklin, founder of Secret Paradise Maldives. “The tourism dollar appears to win over any of the appropriate actions. It will take the voices of tourists for things to change.”

Good encounters

It will take a mindset shift for tourists to become a force for good. Firstly — visitors need to accept that they won’t always see whale sharks, especially if boat speeds are properly enforced.

Conservation cruises are helping shift perceptions; visitors are here to help whale sharks first; spotting them is a secondary goal. If you’re lucky enough to see one, you can help identify and measure the shark and write encounter notes before you swim. If not, you might help monitor vessel traffic and you’ll get plenty of fantastic snorkelling experiences with other ocean life, from turtles to rays.

It is people who make conservation happen. Organisations like the MWSRP focus on education, whether that’s showing guests how to don flippers for the first time or teaching Maldivian schoolchildren who are just starting to learn about the ocean on their doorstep.

“Our team was doing educational talks and face painting with the kids on the island,” says Ruth, describing a recent turtle festival. Our partner works closely with marine life charities and organisations like local NGO Save the Beach. “It’s not normal for operators to work with so many key charities, no,” Ruth says — though it is thankfully becoming more common.

“There is so much work still to be done — which is both exciting and daunting all at once,” says Chloe. MWSRP is campaigning for the SAMPA zone to be patrolled by rangers, who can help limit the damage done by tourists and their boats.

Swim time

Back in the boat, the notes taken, and the whale shark identified, it’s time to swim. But first, your captain needs to find a quiet spot, away from other vessels, where the whale shark won’t be disturbed.

An upset whale shark might swim away — or simply dive a little deeper, out of reach. They have the largest eardrums of any fish and will do anything for some peace and quiet.

You’ll be shown how to approach a whale shark (from the reef side, so that they aren’t penned in) and how close to get (3–4m away is close enough).

And then… just watch as 8m of fish glides past. There, just behind the gills and above the pectoral fin is the much-photographed patch of spots that help identify who they are. Several metres later, the tail fin wags into view, with its sad scars suggesting that they have spent many years in the busy atoll. Then, they’ll disappear, slowly, into the blue beyond.

WHAT DOES SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS IN THE MALDIVES ENTAIL?

A conservation cruise to swim with whale sharks might involve two days of concentrated whale shark spotting, data collection and swimming as part of a wider itinerary of snorkelling and island-hopping.

You’ll be joined by experts: a member of the research programme and senior wildlife guides, plus experts from other NGOs in the area.

Sightings are not guaranteed, but the Maldives has plenty of other amazing wildlife — including manta rays, eagle rays and turtles — not to mention all its wonderful smaller reef fish.

Whale sharks are often deterred by scuba diver bubbles, so snorkelling is best. Researchers will freedive to see them — it’s also far quicker than strapping on an oxygen tank.