Whale Sharks - Gentle Giants

When SWIMMING with a whale shark:

• Do NOT touch, ride or chase a whale shark

• Do NOT restrict normal movement or behaviour of the whale shark

• Maintain a minimum distance of
• • 3m from the whale shark’s side
  • 5m from it’s nose and a
  • 4m from its tail end

• Do NOT use a flash when taking photos

When DIVING with a whale shark:

All vessel operators that the ‘in water’ activities of swimmers comply with the following:

• The whale sharks should be observed for a few minutes before the swimmers enter the water to determine the direction of travel and behavior of the shark. It’s advised that the skipper or dive master first get the relevant sighting data before the interaction with swimmers.

• Divers must treat all whale sharks with caution at all times. Although the shark appear to be ‘Gentle Giants’ they can cause serious injury if the swimmer is struck with its tail or fins.

• Divers should NOT touch a whale shark under any circumstances and must maintain a minimum distance of at least 3 meters from the shark.

• Divers must NOT try to block a whale shark from its chosen direction of movement.

• ‘Flash’ photography should be used with caution if at all and never from underneath the shark.

• The maximum number of divers to dive with a whale shark at a time is 10 divers.

• Divers may NOT use dive scooters or any motorized propulsion aid to swim within the contact zone of the whale shark.

When in the contact zone of a whale shark:

• All vessels should take care when in the contact zone to avoid physically impacting the whale shark or scaring it away.

• ONE vessel can operate within the contact zone at any time. All other vessels should use boat power as necessary to avoid violation into the contact zone while another vessel is busy.

• The first that is in the contact zone are seen to be ‘in contact’ despite of the position of any of the other vessels. The second vessel to arrive in the general surrounding area may queue outside the contact zone to have access to the shark. All other vessels are to uphold a distance of 300 meters from the contacted shark or should make the effort to locate another shark.

• Licensed Vessels can remain ‘in contact’ with the shark for a maximum of 30 minutes from the time of the first entry into the water.

• If there are 2 or more sharks found within 150 meters from each other, the limit of the vessel ‘in contact’ will apply to both sharks until they separate by more than 150 meters.

• In the event that there are 2 or more whale sharks ‘in contact’ with the divers from different vessels, move within 150 meters from each other, the skippers and dive masters must co-operate to ensure the safety of the whale shark and swimmers.

The following counts for all vessels:

• Vessels or their tenders may NOT approach within 30 meters of a whale shark and must move at a slow speed in the contact zone.
• Vessels that approach from ahead of a whale shark’s direction of movement must drop their swimmers no less than 30 meters from the approaching shark and must move out of the path of the shark.
• Not more than 16 passengers may be carried on any Licensed Dive Vessel in the Galapagos National Park.
• Vessels that enter the contact zone must display the international dive flag to indicate that divers are in the water and maintain radio contact with approaching vessels to indicate that diving is in progress.
• Divers must enter the water with minimum of disturbance and also the diver shouldn’t interfere with the natural activities of the sharks.