(Whale Shark/2009) The whale shark is the largest fish in the world, and yet it
remains a scientific mystery. For the majority of the year,
they make their way slowly through the oceans relatively
unnoticed. However, on the eve of a spectacular coral
spawning event on Australia?s Ningaloo Reef, hundreds
arrive. Six weeks later, they disappear. Where do they
go?
New findings suggest that whale sharks from Australia,
Africa and India could all come from the same migratory
population ? meaning that this would be the largest
migration on earth. But how can we find out for sure?
In this programme, Australian marine biologist,
Mark Meekan tags eight sharks in Ningaloo. Thanks
to specially designed on-shark cameras, DNA
fingerprinting and satellite tracking devices, we can
follow their dramatic journey.