We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Seasonal Constellation of Juvenile Whale Sharks in Gorontalo Bay Coastal Park.
- Authors
Yasir, Moh.; Hartati, Retno; Indrayanti, Elis; Amar, Fahri; Tarigan, Ariyo Imanuel
- Abstract
The population of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828), the world's largest endangered extant fish species, has declined in the last three decades. Their appearance in the Botubarani Waters has attracted much attention. This study aimed to determine the whale shark's appearance, their habitat constellation pattern during 2019-2022, and its oceanographic conditions. The Photographic Identification (Photo-ID) method is used to observe and determine whale shark individual's number and pattern of presence. Oceanographic data includes chlorophyll-a concentration using Ocean Color Image data and sea surface temperature (SST) using OSTIA image data processed with Interactive Data Language (IDL) software. The research showed there are 38 individuals with an estimated total length of 2.3-7.3 meters. All whale sharks appearing in Botubarani include juvenile male individuals with a composition of 53% new (N=20) and 47% (N=18) old individuals seen again with a rare seasonal and sporadic presence pattern mainly in the Eastern season (June). The average SST value ranged from 28.36-30.29℃ while chlorophyll-a ranged from 0.174-0.698 mg.m-3. Although the present findings show that the whale shark's appearance in Botubarani waters was not significantly influenced by SST and chlorophyll-a, it might be affected by other oceanography factors such as Sea Surface Height Distribution (SSHD) and depth (bathymetry). As the Botubarani aggregation site is the only whale shark emergence area with easy access throughout the year and is rapidly developing into a new ecotourism industry in Indonesia, the information on whale shark appearance provides useful support for their sustainable protection and conservation in the future.
- Publication
Ilmu Kelautan: Indonesian Journal of Marine Sciences, 2024, Vol 29, Issue 2, p241
- ISSN
0853-7291
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.14710/ik.ijms.29.2.241-253