History
The first Whale Shark that became known to science was caught in 1828 near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
This southernmost distribution of the tropical shark species is the result of the warm Mozambique current that runs southward along the east coast of Africa.
A relatively small fish measuring only 4,6m in length was harpooned and the dead animal was then preserved. It's scientific description was published in the South African Zoological journal in the same year and the specimen was sent to the Musee National Natural History Museum in Paris, where it is still on display today!
Only in the past two decades have active steps being taken to conserve and research Whale Sharks.
Possible reasons for this could be the increased oceanic activities i.e. sailing, scuba diving and sport fishing affording more sightings of Whale Shark and ultimately whetting the scientific communities and like minded individual's appetite for more information.
Between 1828 and 1987 a total of 320 Whale Shark encounters were recorded globally. Since the foundation of Whale Shark Watch Sodwana Bay in 1998, Gypsea Centre has recorded over 370 Whale Shark sightings off Sodwana Bay.
It is important to remember that this figure is represented only by the sharks we have seen or interacted with and not a "true" record of total animals that actually occur along our coastline.