Schools aim at demystifying whale sharks

Whale sharks are off and racing, albeit at a leisurely pace, as schoolchildren across WA started to monitor the movements of the majestic marine creatures.

Sixteen WA schools were chosen to take part in a project run by not-for-profit group EcoOcean to uncover the mysteries of whale shark migration, behaviour and habits.

Whale sharks frequent the Ningaloo Reef from April to July, but where they go after is unknown.

EcoOcean has tagged some whale sharks and adopted them out to schools, which will also track their movements.

WA Australian of the Year Professor Lyn Beazley said at the announcement of the program that only one pregnant whale shark had ever been sighted.

“We believe that she had around 300 eggs inside her at the time,” she said. “We don’t know where they migrate to or how fast they grow — there are so many unknown facts about their lifecycle.”

Four Pilbara schools hope to demystify the giant shark — Tambrey Primary School, Baynton West Primary School, Roebourne District High School and Karratha Senior High School — and are involved in the science project, which started on Monday.

Tambrey science teacher Helen Osborne said students from Years 1 to 6 were learning about whale sharks and had drawn some to-scale representations of the spotted creatures with chalk in the school yard.

She said the senior students would use computers and were learning about latitude and longitude.

Students have also watched a video of snorkellers swimming with the whale sharks taken when one of the school’s teachers visited Exmouth.

The tagging equipment will not work when the sharks go too deep, so students will record the “pings” whenever they get close to the surface.

In the end, the school whose whale shark has travelled the furthest will be the “winner” of the race.

Tambrey’s senior students will also have the chance to go on a trip to Coral Bay at the end of this term to check out the Ningaloo Reef for themselves.