Whale sharks, slow-moving giants up to 18 meters, live 70 years with poorly understood migrations. Satellite tagging and fishers’ traditional knowledge reveal movements across the Arabian Sea, urging cross-border conservation.
Off India’s western coast, fishermen once spoke of a massive shadow that rose from the deep – a creature they called barrel fish, feared for its size and despised for tearing nets. Today, that same creature – the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) – is affectionately known as Vhali, “the dear one.” Its transformation from hunted prey to beloved symbol of coexistence stands as one of India’s most remarkable conservation stories.
Two decades ago, few Indians had heard of the whale shark. Despite being the world’s largest fish, it remained largely invisible in public consciousness, its slaughter taking place quietly along Gujarat’s shores. The turning point came in 2002, when the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), in partnership with the Gujarat Forest Department and Tata Chemicals Ltd., launched an audacious campaign to save the species. What began as a localised awareness drive has since evolved into a nationwide movement, culminating in the 2025 report “Conserving India’s Gentle Giants.”
From Exploitation to Empathy
Before conservation took root, Gujarat’s Saurashtra coast was ground zero for a lucrative whale shark fishery. At its peak in 1999, up to 279 whale sharks were landed in a single month. Their meat, fins, and oil were sold to East Asian markets, while liver oil coated the hulls of fishing boats. “Barel,” as fishers called them, were targeted by harpoons and hooks tied to floating barrels – a brutal trade that decimated populations and scarred India’s marine ecology.
The first step toward change came in 2001, when the Government of India amended the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, placing the whale shark under Schedule I, the highest level of legal protection. This made India the first country in the world to grant full legal protection to the species. The following year, India championed the listing of the whale shark under CITES Appendix II, aligning domestic policy with global conservation commitments.
Yet laws alone could not save a species still viewed as a nuisance. WTI understood that lasting change would come only by transforming hearts and minds. Its campaign blended science, spirituality, and storytelling – a combination that proved revolutionary.
The Gujarat Model: Conservation with Culture
The campaign gained momentum when renowned spiritual leader Morari Bapu became its ambassador, invoking faith-based narratives to sanctify the whale shark as the “daughter of the sea.” Through emotional storytelling, music, and mass pledges, communities that once hunted the fish began celebrating it. Tata Chemicals provided corporate backing, while the Gujarat Forest Department institutionalized the conservation program.
Within a decade, whale shark hunting in Gujarat had ceased entirely. Over 1,000 individuals have since been rescued and released by fishers themselves – not by enforcement, but by voluntary action. The fish that once symbolized damage and loss now embodies pride and protection. In 2011, Gujarat even declared Whale Shark Day, marking the campaign’s cultural triumph.
Expanding the Horizon: From Gujarat to the Nation
Encouraged by Gujarat’s success, WTI extended its research and awareness initiatives to the entire Indian coastline. Between 2012 and 2017, the organization surveyed 1,703 respondents across 118 landing sites, from Lakshadweep and Kerala to Odisha and West Bengal. These surveys, blending Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with scientific methods, identified five new aggregation hotspots for whale sharks outside Gujarat. The findings confirmed that India’s coasts, both east and west, host vital feeding and migratory corridors.
Whale shark sightings were found highest in Lakshadweep, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. Encounters peaked between November and April, when plankton blooms and sardine runs attract these gentle giants close to shore. However, the study also revealed sobering realities: incidental entanglement in gillnets accounted for three-fourths of reported captures, making it the greatest ongoing threat to the species.
Although targeted hunting has largely ceased, accidental captures persist, particularly in Kerala, where some fishers still view the whale shark as a “useless fish.” Awareness of legal protection remains uneven – higher in Karnataka and Kerala, but patchy in Goa and Tamil Nadu. Encouragingly, nearly 80% of respondents expressed willingness to support future conservation efforts, reflecting growing empathy within coastal communities.
Science Meets Tradition
Whale sharks are enigmatic by nature – slow-moving, filter-feeding behemoths that can grow up to 18 meters long and live for 70 years. Their migratory patterns, however, are poorly understood. To bridge this knowledge gap, WTI has combined satellite tagging with community reporting. The first successful satellite-tagged whale shark in India revealed extensive movement across the Arabian Sea, underscoring the need for cross-border cooperation in marine conservation.
Traditional knowledge has been equally crucial. Fishers, through generations of observation, possess detailed insights into ocean currents, plankton cycles, and species behavior. Integrating this Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) into scientific frameworks has enriched India’s understanding of marine megafauna ecology. As Dr. Rima Jabado of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group notes in her message within the report, “Awareness, when rooted in cultural identity, can be more powerful than enforcement.”
The Power of Partnerships
Behind the project’s longevity lies a network of partnerships bridging government, industry, and civil society. The Gujarat Forest Department continues to lead implementation on the ground, supported by Tata Chemicals Ltd., the Indian Coast Guard, and local fisher associations. Academic institutions like CMFRI, IISER-Kolkata, and Andhra University have contributed scientific expertise, while the IUCN–Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative helped expand research to the east coast.
WTI’s community engagement model has also evolved with time. School outreach programs, street plays, and eco-cultural festivals have become platforms to celebrate the whale shark’s story. Children in coastal villages now grow up seeing murals of Vhali rather than heaps of carcasses. What began as an environmental campaign has turned into a social movement rooted in pride and belonging.
Climate Change
Despite significant progress, challenges remain. Whale sharks continue to face accidental entanglement, vessel strikes, and the lingering threat of illegal fin trade. Climate change is altering plankton distribution, potentially shifting whale shark migration routes. Meanwhile, limited public knowledge hampers enforcement in less-exposed regions.
The WTI report outlines a clear roadmap for the future: continuous monitoring of sightings, targeted outreach in high-risk zones, integration of traditional knowledge into policy, and development of state-level Whale Shark Action Plans. Equally important is ensuring that conservation aligns with livelihoods. As Vivek Menon, WTI’s founder, writes in the preface, “We must work with fishers, not against them – by offering not just recognition, but real incentives and support.”
A Symbol of Hope
The whale shark’s journey in India is more than an environmental success – it is a testament to what collective compassion can achieve. From the docks of Veraval to the beaches of Kerala, fishermen who once saw profit in death now find purpose in release. Scientists, spiritual leaders, and schoolchildren alike share ownership of a story that redefines humanity’s relationship with the sea.
These gentle giants remind us that coexistence is not an abstract dream but a living, breathing reality – one net release at a time. As India charts its path toward a blue economy, the whale shark’s story stands as both a warning and a promise: that conservation, when rooted in empathy and shared stewardship, can transform not just a species’ fate, but a nation’s conscience.
