Dr. Alexandra Watts
Research Associate
Research Interests
Alex is a marine biologist who studies the population genetics and genomics of whale sharks. She carried out her PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK as an MMF PhD student, using genome-wide markers and mitochondrial DNA from whale sharks sampled at aggregation sites across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, including MMF’s study sites in Mozambique and Tanzania, to examine how the species’ populations are structured worldwide.
With MMF, Alex is part of the Global Whale Shark Program. Her published work includes a 2022 comparison of whale shark population genetics in the Red Sea and Tanzania (opens in a new tab), which found that the two aggregations, about 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) apart, appear to derive from the same source population, and a 2022 study that improved residency estimates for whale shark aggregations (opens in a new tab) worldwide.
MMF research
Team member
Global Whale Shark Program
News featuring Alexandra
Recent research
- 2025A 15-year time series shows major declines in whale sharks in southern Mozambique
- 2023Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays
- 2022Improving sightings-derived residency estimation for whale shark aggregations: A novel metric applied to a global data set
- Pieces in a global puzzle: Population genetics at two whale shark aggregations in the western Indian Ocean
- 2020Contrasting patterns in the abundance of fish communities targeted by fishers on two coral reefs in southern Mozambique
