By Emanuel Mimila Herrera & Natali Cardenas Palomo | Project team members
Hi!
We are very excited to share with all of our allies the actions we have done, thanks to your support, to promote whale shark conservation. In these first months, we have organized two training workshops to help strengthen the skills and knowledge of 27 guides from local communities, turning them into agents of change and guardians of marine wildlife. In the three years that we have conducted these workshops, a total of 47 guides have participated. There is still a lot of work to be done, but our goal is clear: to build a new generation of nature guides committed to the conservation and sustainable use of whale sharks, also providing them with tools to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
We also participate in conferences and environmental education activities with students of different educational levels. Through four seminars, we reached 119 elementary, high school, and master's students. In one of these sessions, students made scale models of whale sharks. They promised to protect them and share the information they learned about the importance of sharks with more people. These future conservationists are now more committed than ever.
As we know, the whale shark watching season in the Mexican Caribbean started in May. In June, we conducted our first aerial census which counted about 30 whale sharks that have come to the Mexican Caribbean to feed. We also conducted two boat trips with local tourism operators, and we saw between 25 and 28 whale sharks. We are collecting zooplankton samples (zooplankton is whale sharks’ food) and recording information on whale shark behavior during tourist activities. This information is being analyzed and we will share the results with all of you soon. This whale shark sighting season is off to a promising start, and we expect many more sharks to arrive in the coming weeks.
The scheduled activities in the next months are very important, but to continue with this noble cause, we need all the support we can get. We will visit the whale shark aggregation sites during the months with the highest tourist activity. In coordination with the managers of the marine protected areas, we will work together to ensure that this important activity does not have negative impacts on the whale sharks. But we need you, to protect these giants of the sea. Your donation can make all the difference. Together, we can ensure a bright future for whale sharks and the beautiful ecosystem they call home in the Caribbean.
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