Title
Occurrence and Bycatch of Juvenile and Neonate Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Peruvian Waters
Date Issued
01 October 2018
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Romero M.
Pásara-Polack A.
Solano A.
Vela G.
Sarmiento D.
Mangel J.C.
Publisher(s)
University of Hawaii Press
Abstract
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) have mostly been studied off the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, and Baja California, Mexico. Recently, satellite telemetry data revealed connectivity between whale sharks off the Galápagos Islands and Peru. Historic and some recent observations have reported rare occurrences of whale sharks in waters off northern Peru. However, no current detailed information on the occurrence of whale sharks in Peruvian waters has been published. In this study we compiled 27 records of whale sharks along the Peruvian coast as a first step to better understand their use of Peruvian waters. Northern Peru was identified as the main area of occurrence for whale sharks, and reports were more frequent during the austral summer (January to March) and spring (October to December). Moreover, presence of neonatal whale sharks reported in this study, in addition to that of previously satellite-tracked presumably pregnant females, suggests use of northern Peruvian waters as a pupping ground. Interactions occurred only with net fisheries and were evident in most (89%) of the records, but further studies should evaluate the extent of fisheries-shark interactions. As whale shark population numbers decline, effective conservation measures will require understanding of whale shark occurrences, and waters of northern Peru may play an important role in the species' biology and ecology. Systematic research is recommended to improve our understanding of habitat use of individuals present in Peruvian waters.
Start page
463
End page
473
Volume
72
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología marina, Biología de agua dulce, Limnología Biología reproductiva
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85053552447
Source
Pacific Science
ISSN of the container
00308870
Sponsor(s)
1ProDelphinus small-scale-fishery monitoring program was supported by funding from DEFRA Darwin Initiative, Programa FyNCYT/INNOVATE 369-PNICP-PIBA-2014, U.S. Embassy, Whitley Fund for Nature, World Wildlife Fund, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Manuscript accepted 12 March 2018. ProDelphinus small-scale-fishery monitoring program was supported by funding from DEFRA Darwin Initiative, Programa FyNCYT/INNOVATE 369-PNICP-PIBA-2014, U.S. Embassy, Whitley Fund for Nature, World Wildlife Fund, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We thank J. M. Fiestas, J. M. A. Fiestas, R. Fiestas, J. Fiestas, C. Fiestas, R. Beltran, E. Beltran, M. Quito, and P. Alejos for their invaluable help with data collection. D. M. Gonzáles is also thanked for providing information on whale shark bycatch, and F. Sánchez-Salazar and J. P. Testino from North Shore Expedition Peru are also thanked for sharing information on whale shark sighting. We thank J. Coasaca-Céspedes for providing the photo of one of the neonates incidentally captured in Salaverry. We also thank L. Majure and A. Hearn for helpful comments and two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the article.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus