Tags
Accommodations, Conrad Rangali, Lucky, Maldives, Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives, Whale Sharks
This is the fourth of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:
- Getting to the Conrad Rangali
- 3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali
- Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali
- You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!
- Trying to Eat Cheaply at the Conrad Rangali
- Our Brief Time in Malé, Maldives
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, and the largest recorded one was over 41 feet long and over 47,000 lbs. However, whale sharks do not pose a threat to humans since they are filter feeding fish, which means that they primarily eat plankton. I’ve recently become a little obsessed with whale sharks.
The reason that I’ve become quite fascinated with them is that the scientists in the world know very little about them. All knowledge about whale shark reproduction is based on one female whale shark that was captured in 1996. National Geographic even has a million dollar reward for anyone that can take a photograph of a whale shark giving birth.
So when I learned that the Maldives was one of the few places in the world that you could spot whale sharks year-round, I was pretty stoked. In fact, the Conrad Rangali supports the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), which is a nonprofit based in the Maldives that focuses on whale shark research and conservation.