Dear All,

I’m happy to be part now of an Environmental Sub-Committee that already has 5 members! This will hopefully mean that we will be able to achieve much more on the Environmental Front as last year and that a wide range of projects can be handled at the same time.

Some hopeful news for our whale sharks:

I have sent my Whale Shark Sightings File, with sightings of whale sharks in Thai waters from 1991-now, to the Shark Research Institute (SRI). The SRI is all about protecting shark populations worldwide including “our” whale sharks as well. They were very happy with the file, especially because so little is known of whale sharks in Thai waters and whale sharks in general. Mark Strickland has written a paper that comes with the file and will be used by the SRI on next years CITES meeting. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

I really hope that from this year on many Live-aboard dive boats will start a Whale Shark Sighting Record File and send their sightings to the DOCT Environmental Committee. If we all help doing this we can get a fairly accurate estimation of the number of whale sharks visiting Thai waters. It will also help us to determine where and when we most likely will encounter whale sharks and give us an idea about feeding and social behavior as well. We may even be able to recognize certain whale sharks in the future because of recorded markings or scars on some animals.

I will send a sample of a Whale Shark Sighting Record Form to all DOCT affiliated dive shops before October this year. The idea is to copy the form and keep a stack of them on your dive boat and fill out immediately after any given whale shark encounter. At the end of the season we will collect all the filled out forms and make a complete record file of all the sightings from one season. Once finished, this file will be send to all of you, the PMBC and the SRI.

Safe diving -
Hans Tibboel,
Environment Sub-Committee DOCT, Phuket Chapter