Whale Shark conservation vacation in Tanzania

Environment

This programme provides experience in both marine conservation and the responsible tourism industry and teaches people how to better care for their environment. This project supports important on-going marine conservation efforts and hosts research projects to learn more about whale sharks. You will contribute to the global spot-pattern photo identification project, which seeks to identify individuals and subsequently map the movements of whale sharks. Whale shark spot-patterns are like fingerprints and therefore enable one to add their location to a worldwide database. The attraction of this method is that it does not involve tagging or otherwise interfering with the animals. This data helps to understand the sharks' movements and conserve the species in the most sustainable way.

Rubbish is also a major problem within the Indian Ocean, so volunteers will be involved with regular beach sweeps and clean ups. This makes a big difference to everybody on the island and the surrounding region, so there will often be half day beach cleans to try and reverse the detrimental effects of ocean pollution.

Community

The project aims to research the impact of tourism on the whale shark species, analysing the behaviour of the sharks upon encounters with tourists and fishermen, and encouraging locals to adhere to codes of conduct during these incidents.

As well as encouraging locals to operate responsibly, you will also participate in one or more local development projects for communities on the island, as mentioned above. Many people (tourists and locals) don't understand the importance of whale shark and wider shark conservation, so your role as a volunteer here is essential in making people understand just why these magnificent animals need to be preserved.

This is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in a local community environment and really help to make a difference to both the communities that live here and the marine environment with which they are immersed in.