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Dr. Simon J. Pierce

Dr. Simon J. Pierce

Executive Director

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Overview

Simon leads the Global Whale Shark Program at MMF, and is a world expert on these iconic sharks. He began long-term whale shark research in Mozambique in 2005, and has since worked on and published about whale sharks in Tanzania, Madagascar, Oman, Qatar, the Galápagos Islands, the Philippines, Thailand, St Helena, Honduras, and Australia. He has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Simon led the global conservation assessment on whale sharks for the IUCN Red List in 2016 and its update in 2025, and led the IUCN Green Status conservation assessment on whale sharks in 2021. He wrote the technical proposal that upgraded the whale shark’s global protection – through an Appendix I listing on the UN Convention on Migratory Species – in 2017, and contributed to its Appendix I listing under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2025. He is currently working with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission towards a ban on retaining whale sharks caught in its fisheries. Simon also co-edited the definitive scientific textbook on the species, ‘Whale Sharks: Biology, Ecology, and Conservation,’ published in 2021.

Simon has a long-standing interest in developing non-invasive research techniques for endangered species, especially photo-identification, and led the most recent global review of its application to sharks and rays. He is a scientific advisor to Sharkbook.ai, the global shark monitoring database, which tracks more than 15,000 identified whale sharks from more than 50 countries, and is an expert on integrating artificial intelligence into marine research. In Australia, he is an Adjunct Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast and Research Manager for Spot A Shark, developing AI-enhanced photo-monitoring of grey nurse sharks (sandtigers). Simon regularly gives talks on photography for science and conservation with Sony Australia and New Zealand as a Digital Imaging Advocate.

Simon works within a number of regional collaborative research teams, including the Oman Whale Shark Project, Galapagos Whale Shark Project, the Madagascar Whale Shark Project, and Biopixel Ocean Foundation’s project on Great Barrier Reef whale sharks. Simon is an Oceania member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, and chairs the board of the Sawfish Conservation Society, where he was one of the founding board members.

Within MMF, Simon works closely with Principal Scientist Dr. Chris Rohner and Senior Scientist Dr. Clare Prebble on the Global Whale Shark Program. He also sets organizational strategy with the MMF Board, Sarah Butchers (Chief Operating Officer), and MMF Country Managers and senior staff, and often hosts MMF’s diving trips around the world.

Education

2009 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The University of Queensland. Brisbane, Australia
Biology, demography and conservation of rays in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.

2001 Honours in Science (1st Class)
The University of Queensland. Brisbane, Australia

2000 Bachelor of Science (Ecology)
Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka. Wellington, New Zealand

Biography

Simon grew up on a farm outside New Plymouth, New Zealand, where he could generally be found either climbing trees and falling out of them, or exploring rivers and falling into them. After studying Ecology for his BSc in Wellington, NZ, he moved over to Brisbane in Australia in the search for warmer water – and to study coastal rays and sharks for his doctorate.

While he was in Australia, Simon became great friends with then pre-Dr. Andrea Marshall. She convinced him to come over to check out the whale sharks in Mozambique. Together, they set up the ‘Manta Ray & Whale Shark Research Centre’ in Praia do Tofo, a precursor to MMF, in 2005. Things evolved quickly from there, as noted in the overview above.

Simon is wildlife-obsessed and, when not working internationally on MMF projects, lives in the ocean wildlife hotspot of Kaikoura, New Zealand.

MMF work

Leads

Team member

Past

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Simon hosts MMF's expedition trips — dive alongside the scientists and support the research directly.

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Media

Global Whale Shark Program

Whale sharks are Endangered: the Red List estimates their numbers have fallen by more than half over the past three generations. Our Global Whale Shark Research & Conservation Program works to safeguard them and help their populations recover, with long-term monitoring in Mozambique, Tanzania, the Galápagos, and Oman, and research with the Madagascar Whale Shark Project. Photos from our surveys, dive operators and visiting divers are matched by spot pattern in the global database on Sharkbook.ai.Explore the Global Whale Shark Program →

News featuring Simon

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Recent research

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