Research Sites
Research Site Galapagos
Darwin Arch
Darwin Arch is located to the south of Darwin Island in the very north of the Galapagos Archipelago. Darwin Island is where over 90% of all whale shark sightings are.
The Galapagos platform rises from over 3500m from the ocean floor. Darwin Island and the Arch are the remains of a vast, now-extinct volcano.
New Study Sites
For over a decade, the team has focused their efforts around Darwin Island as this is where whale sharks were identified to pass by seasonally.
In order to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle, the team has expanded their efforts to other locations where whale shark presence has also been identified, such as the south of the Archipelago, mainland Ecuador and in partnership with the Whale Shark Project in Peru.
Southern Galapagos
In the recent years the team have identified the presence of whale sharks and a possible constellation in the southern region of Galapagos with the help from fishermen, park rangers and tourism vessels, and have began working in this area to identify if the whale sharks are the same individuals as those seen up north and if the behaviours are similar in both Galapagos constellations.
Española and San Cristobal
Southern Isabela
Mainland Ecuador
In order to properly protect the species in the region it is essential to identify all the areas of aggregation or hotspots of constellations of each country in the region.
The Galapagos Whale Shark Project is expanding efforts to mainland effort to identify where these sharks are most frequently sighted off the coast of Ecuador and what their habitat use is in this area.
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