Scientists Successfully Fit a Satellite Tracker on a Whale Shark for the First Time in Costa Rica ⋆ The Costa Rica News

On March 13, the organization Misión Tiburón announced that it had successfully attached a satellite tracking device to a whale shark in Costa Rican waters for the first time. To honor the province where this milestone occurred, the shark was named “Chorotega,” in reference to Guanacaste.

Although Costa Rican scientists have already successfully attached such devices to other sharks, achieving this with this species represents a major opportunity for national science, which could help better protect marine wildlife.

According to Ilena Zanella, founder of Misión Tiburón, in recent weeks they have observed an unusual gathering of three or four individuals near Playa del Coco. This is not a normal occurrence, as when they appear in Costa Rican waters, they usually leave quickly.

“They’re more commonly seen on Cocos Island. They’re rarer in coastal waters, but here in Playa del Coco and the Papagayo area, we’ve observed at least three or four different individuals, and they’ve remained in Culebra Bay day after day,” Zanella said.

For this reason, they want to study this situation further to find a possible cause that explains why these sharks have decided to remain in Costa Rican waters—something that had not been reported before.

With the device installed, researchers will be able to track Chorotega’s routes for at least three months. Additionally, they will learn how long he will remain in Costa Rica, when he decides to leave, and which areas he travels through. Such tracking was previously impossible.

A unique opportunity for Costa Rican marine biology

According to Zanella, knowledge about whale sharks in Costa Rica—and worldwide—is very limited due to their sporadic appearances. That is why, according to Zanella, the fact that these individuals have remained in Costa Rican waters represents a golden opportunity.

So far, it is only known that both on Cocos Island and in coastal areas it is common to see small individuals, which measure between three and five meters. For example, Chorotega measures about five meters and is a male.

In contrast, in the Galápagos Islands, groups of females can reach up to 15 meters. This difference is due to sexual segregation, which has also been documented throughout the tropical Pacific.

“Very little is known about whale sharks, precisely because sightings are so sporadic. If you want to study them, it’s really very difficult,” explained Zanella.

To make up for this lack of data, Misión Tiburón developed an app that allows tour guides and divers to report sightings of the species. However, the irregularity of their appearances had made it nearly impossible to coordinate a tagging operation until now.

Mystery of nature

During the first four days, Chorotega remained between Playa del Coco and Bahía Culebra. Then it headed toward Isla Colorada, and just before Zanella gave the interview to El Observador, the shark was swimming off the Santa Elena Peninsula.

Researchers still do not know why these whale sharks have remained in Costa Rica. Among their hypotheses is the marine upwelling season, when the ocean produces a greater amount of nutrients, or it could also be that climate change has altered their routes.

“In nature, there’s always a reason—maybe we just can’t see it clearly. It must have something to do with the nutrient-rich waters we’ve had, because it’s the bloom season and there must have been some food source that attracted them. The thing is, we haven’t been able to figure this out yet,” added the biologist.

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