Live whale sharks are the world's biggest known fish and among the world's largest animals. That implies that they are reproducing. Have you ever seen them courting someone?
Despite this, no two whale sharks have ever been seen courting. This is partly because whale sharks are endangered, IUCN said. Their size is averaging from five to 10, 18 and 33 feet (5 to 10 m) long, and they weigh several pounds according to Live Science. This makes them vulnerable to human dangers like drilling, fishing, and shipping. Scientists also believe that the fish travel vast distances across the world's tropical oceans to visit unique whale shark mating grounds that researchers have yet to discover.
Underwater Photographers, Scientists Wishing To See Mating, Courting Whales
Meanwhile, underwater photographers can only hope to capture what David Choy accomplished earlier this year. A male and a female tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) started to dance in front of the diver in a footage uploaded on YouTube. The male pursued the female in complex loops until they swam away into the darkness.
The Philippines' Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park was home to these two tiger sharks. Unico Conservation Foundation said that The Philippines is called the "Amazon of the Seas." The said country is also often referred to as the "global hub for marine biodiversity," Ocean Action Hub said. The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, with its pristine reefs and diverse marine life, is an excellent example of this. Situated inside the Coral Triangle, Unesco said that this park supports approximately 360 kinds of corals and over 700 species of fish. There are about 200 species of sharks and rays in the country's seas, making it one of the most diverse in the world. EAAFP recorded at least 20 species of shark and ray inside the park alone.
ALSO READ : 5 Ways of Shark Conservation: NASA's Earth-Observing Satellites Help in Nature Maintenance
Tiger Sharks Vanished in the Philippines? Nope, There Is a Few in Tubbataha Reefs!
Tiger sharks can be seen seldomly elsewhere in the country, according to Underwater 360: Divers Digest. But their presence in the Tubbataha Reefs allows scientists to catch them and learn more about them. According to a statement, researchers from the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute of the Philippines (LAMAVE) and the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) have successfully tagged these species in the park since 2016.
Dr. Andy Cornish, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Sharks' program leader, called Tubbataha as one of a handful of locations in Southeast Asia where sharks are really making a comeback, WWF said.
This is due to the park's excellent management and enforcement and its remote location from inhabited areas. Several generations of sharks thrive in the area with minimal outside pressure.
Unfortunately, it stands to lose a lot from the dangers that are now threatening our seas and will eventually reach this oasis: overfishing, climate change, marine trash and pollution, risky tourist enterprises, oil drilling, and so on. Both local and international activities will determine how the ecosystems and creatures that call it home survive.
RELATED ARTICLE : Discovery Channel's Shark Week Might Be Doing More Harm than Help in Conservation of the Species
Check out more news and information on Animals in Science Times.
