Natural Environment Blog

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is about to implement a satellite tracking program for the whale shark (Rhincodon typus).

The program, believed to be the first of its kind in India, will involve monitoring of whale sharks along the Gujarat coast. The sharks will have a tag implanted in their dorsel fin, which will be able to rely important information to satellites about the movements of the fish.

In particular, the satellite tracking will provide scientists with information about the migration, breeding, water temperature and deep movement among other parameters of the fish and its habitat.

Often referred to as the "gentle giant", the whale shark can grow up to 12.2 m. (40 ft.) in length and can weigh up to 13.6 tonnes (15 short tons).

Although this is the first time satellite monitoring will be used for whale sharks in India, its not the first time the country has used satellite tracking on marine life. India has used satellite tracking on sea turtles and other marine species. 

“We do not have any population specific data about the species. One of the greatest constraints of the conservation of the fish is poor knowledge about the life and biological parameters such as growth, reproduction, distribution and movement,” coordinator of the project Dhiresh Joshi said.

The data provided by the program will help in designing conservation projects for the whale shark, which has been listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List as vulnerable since 2000.

The whale shark is often killed for meat, liver oils, fins, frozen meat that are in huge demand in the south Asian countries.

Previous Satellite Monitoring

The U.S. and China have already been tagging whale sharks, with some interesting results. Satellite monitoring in the U.S. and South China sea have revealed that whale sharks can travel thousands of kilometers over many years. 

About the Whale Shark

Often referred to as the “gentle giant”, the whale shark can grow up to 12.2 m. (40 ft.) in length and can weigh up to 13.6 tonnes (15 short tons). The giant fish can be found in warmer, tropical oceans, usually between latitudes 30°N and 35°S, and is often seen in the waters of Australia, India, the Maldives, South Africa, Belize, Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

A whale shark can live for as long as 70 years (if its not hunted and killed beforehand).

Although the whale shark was first discovered in 1828, it is believed to have been around for at least 60 million years.

Eight years ago in India, cows were found to be dying on the streets from what was initially thought to be a mystery disease. Closer inspection revealed that the cows were dying from plastic bags. They were mistakenly ingesting the plastic bags while eating food at the side of the roads.

At the time, it was estimated that over 3,000 cows were dying each month from plastic bags. According to the audio story attached to this article by the National Public Radio, between 15,000 and 20,000 cows die each month from plastic bags.

Unfortunately, although a plastic bag ban was pushed for, the plastic bag industry managed to persuade against it. In the end, only ultra-thin plastic bags were banned. But it appears that these ultra-thin plastic bags are continuing to be manufactured and distributed in India.

So the result is that more and more cows are continuing to die an excruciatingly painful death from ingesting unused plastic bags.

There seems to be some conflicting reports on where the wettest place on earth is. Some say the wettest place on earth is in Hawaii. Others reckon it’s wetter somewhere in India. Either way, these places are wet!

What I mean by the “wettest place on earth” is the place that gets the most rain fall per year. So this automatically rules out Antarctica. Although over 90% of Antarctica is ice (i.e. frozen water), it hardly rains there. In fact it’s one of the driest places on earth!

Anyway, here’s a list of some of the wettest places on earth:

• Mount Wai-’ale-’ale, Kauai records an average of up to 13,000 millimeters of rain per year. Rain has been known to fall for up to 360 days per year!
  Mount Tutenendo, Colombia records up to 12,045 millimeters rain per year
• Lloro, Colombia has around 13,299 millimeters rain per year. Note that this rain fall is an estimated amount according to The National Climatic Data Center.
• Cherrapunji,north-eastern India gets an average rain fall of 10,820 millimeters per year. Note that most of this rain falls between June and August (known as the ’south-west monsoon’, or wet season).
• Mawsynram, India has been quoted by the American National Climatic Data Center as having an annual average rainfall of 11,871 millimeters . BBC Weather has quoted 11,877 millimeters . Note that Mawsynram is not far from Cherrapunji.
• Milford Sound in New Zealand gets an average of between 7,000 millimeters and 9,000 millimeters of rain each year. Also, Franz Josef Glacier is not far behind Milford Sound as far as rainfall goes. And I should know - I’ve experienced over 400 millimeters of it over night while sleeping in a tent there!

So, take your pick. If you’re looking for rain, any of these places should be able to deliver