Movement patterns of whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia, revealed through long-term satellite tagging

Long-term fin-mounted satellite tagging of juvenile male whale sharks revealed that Cenderawasih Bay functions as a critical, year-round foraging habitat, with sharks spending ~80% of their time engaged in foraging-related behaviour in shallow, productive waters closely associated with lift-net fisheries and river-driven productivity. While some individuals undertook long-distance coastal and offshore movements (up to >5,000 km), most returned to or remained within the bay, demonstrating strong site fidelity and highlighting Cenderawasih Bay as an ecological anchor for this population. These findings support prioritising strict protection and adaptive management within and around the bay, while also emphasizing the need for regionally coordinated conservation across adjacent coastal and offshore corridors used during seasonal dispersal beyond existing MPA boundaries.

Authors:

Megan M. Meyers, Malcolm P. Francis, Mark Erdmann, Rochelle Constantine, Abraham Sianipar

Publisher:

Pacific Conservation Biology

Keywords:

telemetry, spatial distribution, West Papua, elasmobranch

Group Species:

Elasmobranch

Species:

Whale shark

Scale:

South Pacific Ocean

Year:

2020

See the journal here: https://connectsci.au/pc/article-abstract/26/4/353/37548/Movement-patterns-of-whale-sharks-in-Cenderawasih?redirectedFrom=fulltext