Why whale sharks?
Because these massive fish are filter feeders, and often skim food along the Gulf’s surface, they are likely to be directly and dramatically impacted by the oil spill. Whale sharks represent a unique opportunity to learn more about the way oil will navigate through the food chain, thus affecting everything from the smallest plankton to the largest whales. What we learn from the whale sharks will help us protect other marine creatures that rely on the Gulf of Mexico. The need is urgent Recently, scientists confirmed the existence of a new and essential feeding area for whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. This area is dense with whale sharks, and lies only a few miles from the site of the destroyed Deepwater Horizon oil rig. If the whale sharks ingest oil and die, their deaths will go unrecorded — because sharks are not bouyant, they sink when they die. If we are not there to witness these impacts, the full scope of the disaster may never be known. IFAW and partners are already on the wa
