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Adult female whale sharks make long-distance movements past Darwin Island (Galapagos, Ecuador) in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

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Abstract

Most previous studies on whale shark movements have been on immature sharks. Here, we present tracking data for large females that we tagged at the Galapagos Islands, where they occur seasonally. We conducted fieldwork at Darwin Island (1.67, 92.0°W) from July to October in 2011 and in 2012. We often saw individual sharks several times on a particular day, but rarely saw them again more than 2 days later after they were first sighted. We tagged 39 female whale sharks, 36 of which were between 8 and 12 m long. We tracked 27 sharks for 9–176 days (median = 47 day). Sharks tagged in July moved west into the open ocean, whereas those tagged in September and October moved toward the coast of South America. They travelled between 49 and 2747 km from Darwin (median = 1296 km), at about 38 km day−1 (median rate). We observed five of those sharks later at various times at Darwin Island after >1 month absence, by photo-identification (n = 2) or satellite track (n = 3). Tracks that lasted through December ended along the continental shelf break of northern Peru. We show return movements of individuals through Darwin after moving large distances into the open ocean and establish connectivity with mainland Ecuador and Peru.

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Acknowledgments

Our study was funded by a grant from the George, Blake and Kimberly Rapier Foundation to the Galapagos Whale Shark Project (through Conservation International and the Galapagos Conservancy) and by the Galapagos Conservation Trust. Fieldwork was carried out under permits (PC-37-11 and MAE-PNG/CDS-2012-0020) issued by the Galapagos National Park Directorate. We thank the Captain and Crew of the MV Queen Mabel, and to the staff and volunteers from the Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos National Park Directorate who participated in the fieldwork, especially Cesar Peñaherrera, Yasmania Llerena, Inti Keith, Jules Paredes and Gabriel Vazquez.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador

    Alex R. Hearn

  2. Turtle Island Restoration Network, Olema, CA, USA

    Alex R. Hearn

  3. Marine Megafauna Foundation Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    J. Green

  4. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, La Jolla, CA, USA

    M. H. Román

  5. Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

    D. Acuña-Marrero

  6. Galapagos National Park Directorate, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

    E. Espinoza

  7. University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Alex R. Hearn & A. P. Klimley

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  1. Alex R. Hearn
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  2. J. Green
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  3. M. H. Román
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  4. D. Acuña-Marrero
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  5. E. Espinoza
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Correspondence to Alex R. Hearn.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of California Davis, under IACUC Protocol #16022, and with permission from the authority of the Galapagos Marine Reserve in the figure of Permit PC-37-11 from the Galapagos National Park Directorate.

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Responsible Editor: B. Stewart.

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Hearn, A.R., Green, J., Román, M.H. et al. Adult female whale sharks make long-distance movements past Darwin Island (Galapagos, Ecuador) in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Mar Biol 163, 214 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2991-y

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