Whale Shark Mexico

Whale Shark Mexico´s mission is to ensure the sustainable management and conservation of whale sharks and their habitat in the Gulf of California. We do this through education, research, and partnerships. Our primary strategies include: 1. Whale Shark monitoring and injury tracking to drive sustainable management practices. Education and training to support whale shark knowledge, conservation, and local investment in sustainable management. Research to advance knowledge of the species and whale shark conservation efforts. For the past 20 years, Whale Shark Mexico has worked to advance the conservation and sustainable management of whale sharks in Mexico, particularly in Bahía de La Paz, BCS, Mexico, which is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks can be found as both juveniles and adult females (apparently pregnant). The data we gather is provided to the environmental government to develop effective measures and key strategies that can be implemented to protect and preserve the whale shark and its habitat. Over the past 20 years, we have catalogued the behavior and injuries of more than juvenile individuals and more than 80 adult female whale sharks. Our data helped establish a Refuge area for the whale sharks in 2018 and a Code of Conduct for tourism operators by the Mexican Government in 2012. In fact, the Mexican government continues to rely on our data for ongoing monitoring and tracking.