Global Whale Shark Program
Scientific Publications on Whale Sharks
Discover MMF’s contributions to whale shark knowledge
2024
Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally. Womersley FC, Rohner CA, Abrantes K, et al. Science of The Total Environment.
2023
Emergent community architecture despite distinct diversity in the global whale shark (Rhincodon typus) epidermal microbiome. Doane MP, Reed MB, McKerral J, et al. Scientific Reports.
Underwater ultrasonography and blood sampling provide the first observations of reproductive biology in free-swimming whale sharks. Matsumoto R, Murakumo K, Nozu R, et al. Endangered Species Research.
Interactions between marine megafauna and plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. Omeyer LCM, Duncan EM, Abreo NAS, et al. Science of the Total Environment.
Plastic pollution and marine megafauna: Recent advances and future directions. Nelms SE, Clark BL, Duncan EM, et al. In: Plastic Pollution in the Global Ocean.
2022
Fatty acid profiles of more than 470 marine species from the Southern Hemisphere. Nichols PD, Pethybridge HR, Zhang B, et al. Ecology.
Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology. Andrzejaczek S, Lucas TCD, Goodman MC, et al. Science Advances.
Improving sightings-derived residency estimation for whale shark aggregations: A novel metric applied to a global data set. Araujo G, Agustines A, Bach SS, et al. Frontiers in Marine Science.
Citizen science reveals the population structure and seasonal presence of whale sharks in the Gulf of Thailand. Magson K, Monacella E, Scott C, et al. Journal of Fish Biology.
Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark. Womersley FC, Humphries NE, Queiroz N, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Rhincodon typus, Whale Shark, Marokintana. Diamant S, Kiszka JJ, Pierce SJ. The New Natural History of Madagascar. Goodman SM (ed).
Citizen science as a key tool in whale shark conservation. Araujo G, Kwong KO, Jones IG, Holmberg J, Pierce SJ, Manjaji-Matsumoto BM. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
The need for long-term population monitoring of the world’s largest fish. Rohner CA, Venables S, Cochran J, et al. Endangered Species Research.
Pieces in a global puzzle: Population genetics at two whale shark aggregations in the western Indian Ocean. Hardenstine RS, He S, Cochran JEM, et al. Ecology and Evolution.
2021
Regional variation in anthropogenic threats to Indian Ocean whale sharks. Reynolds SD, Norman BM, Franklin CE, et al. Global Ecology and Conservation.
Rhincodon typus (Green Status assessment). Pierce SJ, Grace MK, & G Araujo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Population structure, residency, and abundance of whale sharks in the coastal waters off Nosy Be, north-western Madagascar. Diamant S, Pierce SJ, Rohner CA, et al. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
Microplastics in fecal samples of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and from surface water in the Philippines. Yong MMH, Leistenschneider C, Miranda JA, et al. Microplastics and Nanoplastics 1: 1–9.
Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays. Pacoureau N, Rigby CL, Kyne PM, et al. Nature 589: 567–571.
Whale sharks: Biology, ecology, & conservation. Dove ADM and SJ Pierce (eds). CRC Press.
Chapter 2. Whale shark reproduction, growth, and demography. Pierce SJ, Pardo SA, Rohner CA, et al.
Chapter 6. Whale shark movements and migrations. Hearn AR, Green JR, Peñaherrera-Palma CR, et al.
Chapter 7. Population ecology of whale sharks. Rohner CA, Norman BM, Reynolds S, Araujo G, Holmberg J, and SJ Pierce.
Chapter 8. Whale shark foraging, feeding, and diet. Rohner CA, and CEM Prebble.
Chapter 11. Global threats to whale sharks. Rowat D, Womersley F, Norman BM, and SJ Pierce.
Chapter 12. Conservation of whale sharks. Pierce SJ, Grace MK, and G Araujo.
Chapter 13. Outstanding questions in whale shark research and conservation. Rowat D, Robinson DP, Dove ADM, et al.
Economic value and public perceptions of whale shark tourism in Nosy Be, Madagascar. Ziegler J, Diamant S, Pierce SJ, Bennett R, and J Kiszka. Tourism in Marine Environments.
2020
No place like home? High residency and predictable seasonal movement of whale sharks off Tanzania. Rohner CA, JE Cochran, EF Cagua, et al. Frontiers in Marine Science 7: 423.
St. Helena: An important reproductive habitat for whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the central south Atlantic. Perry CT, E Clingham, DH Webb, et al. Frontiers in Marine Science 7: 899.
2019
Microplastics on the menu: plastics pollute Indonesian manta ray and whale shark feeding grounds. Germanov ES, Marshall AD, Hendrawan IG, et al. Frontiers in Marine Science 6.
Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries. Queiroz, N., Humphries, N.E., Couto, A. et al. Nature 572.
2018
Photographic identification of sharks. Pierce SJ, Holmberg JA, Kock AL, Marshall AD. In: Shark research: Emerging technologies and applications for the field and laboratory. Carrier JC, Heithaus MR, Simpfendorfer CA (eds.). CRC Press.
Microplastics: No small problem for filter-feeding megafauna. Germanov ES, Marshall AD, Bejder L, Fossi MC and Loneragan NR. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33(4).
Limited latitudinal ranging of juvenile whale sharks in the Western Indian Ocean suggests the existence of regional management units. Prebble CEM, Rohner CA, Pierce SJ, et al. Marine Ecology Progress Series 601: 167-183.
Satellite tracking of juvenile whale sharks in the Sulu and Bohol Seas, Philippines. Araujo G, Rohner CA, Labaja J, et al. PeerJ 6: e5231.
Movements and habitat use of satellite-tagged whale sharks off western Madagascar. Diamant S, Rohner CA, Kiszka JJ, et al. Endangered Species Research.
Satellite tagging highlights the importance of productive Mozambican coastal waters to the ecology and conservation of whale sharks. Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, Jaine FRA, et al. PeerJ.
2017
iDNA at Sea: Recovery of whale shark (Rhincodon typus) mitochondrial DNA sequences from the whale shark copepod (Pandarus rhincodonicus) confirms global population structure. Meekan M, Austin CM, Tan MH, et al. Frontiers in Marine Science.
Undersea constellations: The global biology of an endangered marine megavertebrate further informed through citizen science. Norman BM, Holmberg JA, Arzoumanian Z, et al. BioScience. 67(12): 1029–1043.
Some like it hot: Repeat migration and residency of whale sharks within an extreme natural environment. Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Bach SS, et al. PloS ONE 12: e0185360.
Long-term assessment of whale shark population demography and connectivity using photo-identification in the Western Atlantic Ocean. McKinney JA, Hoffmayer ER, Holmberg J, et al. PLoS ONE.
Oceanic adults, coastal juveniles: Tracking the habitat use of whale sharks off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Ramírez-Macías D, Queiroz N, Pierce SJ, Humphries NE, Sims DW, Brunnschweiler JM. PeerJ 5: e3271.
Rhincodon typus. Dulvy NK, Robinson DP, Pierce SJ, et al. In: Jabado RW, Kyne PM, Pollom RA, Ebert DA, Simpfendorfer CA, Ralph GM, Dulvy NK (eds.). The conservation status of sharks, rays, and chimaeras in the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters. Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, UAE and IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, Vancouver, Canada 236 pp.
2016
The ecological connectivity of whale shark aggregations in the Indian Ocean: A photo-identification approach. Andrzejaczek S, Meeuwig J, Rowat D, et al. Royal Society Open Science.
Population structure, abundance and movement of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Bach S, et al. PLoS ONE.
Rhincodon typus. Pierce SJ and Norman BM. In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
2015
Acoustic telemetry reveals cryptic residency of whale sharks. Cagua F, Cochran J, Rohner CA, et al. Biology Letters 11.
Laser photogrammetry improves size and demographic estimates for whale sharks. Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, Prebble CEM, et al. PeerJ.
Whale sharks target dense prey patches of sergestid shrimp off Tanzania. Rohner CA, Armstrong A, Pierce SJ, et al. Journal of Plankton Research.
Monitoring the effects of tourism on whale shark Rhincodon typus behaviour in Mozambique. Haskell PJ, McGowan A, Westling A, et al. Oryx 49(3): 492-499.
Sizing ocean giants: Patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, et al. PeerJ.
2014
Genetic structure of populations of whale sharks among ocean basins and evidence for their historic rise and recent decline. Vignaud TM, Maynard JA, Leblois R, et al. Molecular Ecology 23: 2590-2601.
The complete mitogenome of the whale shark parasitic copepod Pandarus rhincodonicus Norman, Newbound & Knott (Crustacea; Siphonostomatoida; Pandaridae) – a new gene order for the copepoda. Austin CM, Hua Tan M, Peng Lee Y, et al. Mitochondrial DNA 27(1): 694-5.
2013
Unusually high levels of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in whale sharks and reef manta rays. Couturier LIE, Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, et al. Lipids 48: 1029-1034.
Trends in sightings and environmental influences on a coastal aggregation of manta rays and whale sharks. Rohner CA, Pierce SJ, Marshall AD, Weeks SJ, Bennett MB and Richardson AJ. Marine Ecology Progress Series 482: 153-168.
Diet of whale sharks Rhincodon typus inferred from stomach content and signature fatty acid analyses. Rohner CA, Couturier L, Richardson A, et al. Marine Ecology Progress Series 493: 219-235.
Population structure and residency of whale sharks Rhincodon typus at Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. Fox S, Foisy I, de la Parra Venegas R, et al. Journal of Fish Biology 83(3): 574-587.
Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, aggregate around offshore platforms in Qatari waters of the Arabian Gulf to feed on fish spawn. Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Jabado RW, et al. PLoS ONE.
2012
The use and abuse of photographic identification in sharks and rays. Marshall AD and Pierce SJ. Journal of Fish Biology 80: 1361-1379.
2011
How large is the world’s largest fish? Measuring whale sharks Rhincodon typus with laser photogrammetry. Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, Marshall AD, Weeks SJ and Pierce SJ. Journal of Fish Biology 78: 378-385.
2010
Seeing spots: Photo-identification as a regional tool for whale shark identification Brooks K, Rowat D, Pierce SJ, D Jouannet and Vely M. Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science 9: 185-194.
Developing a code of conduct for whale shark interactions in Mozambique. Pierce SJ, Méndez-Jiménez A, Collins K, Rosero-Caicedo M and Monadjem A. Aquatic Conservation: Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 20: 782-788.
2009
Deep-diving behaviour of a whale shark Rhincodon typus during long-distance movement in the western Indian Ocean. Brunnschweiler JM, Baensch H, Pierce SJ and Sims DW. Journal of Fish Biology 74: 706-714.
2008
Is host ectoparasite load related to echeneid fish presence? Mucientes GR, Queiroz N, Pierce SJ, Sazima I & Brunnschweiler JM. Research Letters in Ecology.
Scarring patterns and relative mortality rates of Indian Ocean whale sharks. Speed CW, Meekan MG, Rowat D, Pierce SJ, Marshall AD and Bradshaw CJA. Journal of Fish Biology 72: 1488-1503.