History's Smallest Whale Shark Rescued In Sorsogon

March 9, 2009

Release from: Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan
Manila Bulletin (Philippines)

Whale sharks are the largest fish on earth. Donsol, a sleepy town in the Philippine province of Sorsogon, hosts what is arguably the largest known annual congregation of whale sharks in the world.

On the morning of March 7, word reached Nitz Pedragosa, Donsol's tourism officer, that a whale shark had been caught on March 6th in nearby San Antonio, a barangay of Pilar town, adjacent to Donsol. It was allegedly tied up, and being sold.

When the report was confirmed through local informants, the team - made up of the Tourism Officer, the Agricultural Officer, the BIO and Elson - quickly drew up an operational plan. As they pulled up to the seashore an hour later, the team was met by Captain Berango, the Pilar police chief. They expected to see a giant animal helplessly stuck, its tall dorsal fin and tail sticking out of the water. But there was nothing there. All they saw was a stick, stuck in sand, with a small rope leading away from it, into the water. Elson walked up to the stick and was amazed to find the smallest whale shark he had ever seen - a mere 15 inches long!

The team freed the shark from the rope that was tied around its tail. After checking to see that the animal was unhurt, documenting the discovery, and measuring the shark, they transferred it into a large, water-filled plastic bag to allow it to swim freely while preparing for its release. Less than three hours after the report first reached Donsol, the response team was back on their banca, shark safely in hand. They took the shark out to deeper water, where it was less likely to get entangled in a fish net, and there, they set it free.

In spite of all the research that is being done worldwide on whale sharks, to this date no one knows where they breed or give birth. The Pilar 'pup' was so small, it was probably born here and could have been what biologists call a neo-nate. Not only is this animal the smallest live whale shark on record ever to be captured and released here in the Philippines (and arguably, anywhere in the world), it is also the first indication that the Philippines, at the apex of the Coral Triangle, is probably one of the places on the planet where these giants of the sea are born.

For many years, scientists thought that Donsol was merely one of many 'gas stations' along the global network of marine highways where whale sharks cruised. This new discovery is the first ever indication that this coastline may actually be a 'birthing site'.