Touching Whale Sharks

[Zippsy]

i've snorkled with whales sharks and it was an incredible experience. one of the divemasters told us not to touch them because these animals along with lots of other fish have a membrane that protects them and that we would take it off if we touch them. was that just a story to keep us from touching them?

oops, just realized i bumped an older thread. sorry :D

I'm quoting from an older thread just to prove that I did try to search for the answer before asking.

I am trying to find out if the "don't touch them because you'll wipe off the membrane" is just a DM story, as noted a way to stop people from touching them, or if it is based on the truth. I could not find an authorotative answer on the net with my weak searching ability so I am asking marine biologist friends. While waiting for them to reply, I thought I would search too. Anyone know the answer for certain? Is the any marine biologist site that I can refer to that answers the question why we whould not touch them - other than it will scare them away? Thanks.

[Wookie]

I watched a diver (then rescued him) ride a whaleshark's dorsal fin. When the whaleshark got tired of him, he flicked his tail twice. The first flick dislodged the rider, the second whacked the diver so hard it stunned him, knocking mask, reg, and camera off. I rescued the diver (made sure his reg was put back in place, and brought him to the surface), and other divers found the mask and camera, a few dives later. Riding whalesharks can be dangerous.

Most fish have a protective mucus layer. You might know it as fish slime. I have never known a shark to be slimy, so I am a little sceptical of the don't touch because of the fish membrane. I am a little more straightforward on my boat. If you touch a whale shark, or manta, or attempt an interaction started by you, and not them, I won't let you back in the water with them. Many times whalesharks and mantas will come rub on you. They are removing parasites, and you make a good scratching post. If they don't want to be touched, they will leave the area. I don't know how many times we've put divers/snorkelers in with the mantas/whalesharks, always with the briefing not to touch them. Some selfish bastard has to touch/grab ahold, then half the boat doesn't get to see the critter, because it takes off.

If the dive op briefs not to touch the animal, don't touch the animal.

[Jax]

As for the fish -- Ask any pet store. If aquarium fish are handled (netted, etc) such as for aquarium cleaning, the coating does come off and they have a greater chance of catching 'ick'. Same is true for those in the ocean. Whether a shark would have such a thing, I do not know.

[fairybasslet]

Some selfish bastard has to touch/grab ahold, then half the boat doesn't get to see the critter, because it takes off.



There seems to be one in every crowd.:shakehead:

[Wookie]

There seems to be one in every crowd.:shakehead:

Were you on one of those trips? When we saw the one right out of Freeport? We jumped in snorkelers, the first person there grabbed it, it left, we picked up all the passengers, and the whaleshark came back about 300 yards away. I let everyone back in except that guy, and you all hung out for about 20 min with him the second time?

[diversteve]

Is the any marine biologist site that I can refer to that answers the question why we whould not touch them - other than it will scare them away? Thanks.You might ask someone at ECOCEAN. www.whaleshark.org (http://www.whaleshark.org/)

Or post a question in their forum - ECOCEAN Whale Shark Forum - Index (http://www.ecocean.org/forum/)

Or the Shark Research Institute: http://www.sharks.org/

[Zippsy]

If you touch a whale shark, or manta, or attempt an interaction started by you, and not them, I won't let you back in the water with them.

We effectively have the same rule on our boats but there have been a few incidents lately on other boats and I am trying to educate the masses out here.

[fairybasslet]

Were you on one of those trips? When we saw the one right out of Freeport? We jumped in snorkelers, the first person there grabbed it, it left, we picked up all the passengers, and the whaleshark came back about 300 yards away. I let everyone back in except that guy, and you all hung out for about 20 min with him the second time?

No. I wasn't on that trip but I've been on others where people suck. I was in West Palm in Sept and there were Goliaths all over the place. Most were shy but there was one who let you get close to take photos, and of course some moron touched him and he swam away.

I hope to dive with you and Mel again soon though

[dseiden]

I don't see a shark as having a slime coat, but I do not know much about sharks yet.

As for fish, they do have a slime coat that can be taken off by being touched by either hands, nets, or other fish who eat the slime coat (such as algae eaters). The slime coat helps keep the fish from getting parasites and fungal infections. I dunno, I just don't see a shark having one, but I don't think they should be touched regardless.

[LIVES4SHARKS]

I have participated with The Shark Research Institute on a few of their whaleshark expeditions. These were of juvenile sharks (less than 25' in length) that migrate to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Since they filter feed very small plankton type food, they were feeding close to the surface. There is a way of approaching the animal as not to threaten or disturb it's feeding. Juvenile sharks tend to be a bit more skiddish of bubbles compared to adults so we snorkeled with them. No more than 4 team members were in the water at a time and each one of us had a set duty. We were allowed limited contact, but no holding onto fins or any type of harrassing movements. We gathered as much information as possible with the least amount of stress on the animal.

Sharks do not have the same type of surface as fish. Their skin is very rough if you stroke it one way and smooth the other. The skin is actually an armored surface of teeth like scales. This allows them to be hydrodynamic using very little energy to move through water. A shark's surface is very solid and has very little give to the tissue. I was amazed when taking dorsal fin measurements that they were so solid and smooth.

Basically, contact with a whaleshark can be made, but let the animal come to you. If they roll away from you, that is a defensive maneuver and contact should be broken off. The best thing is to just swim beside them, not making physical contact with them. You will find that they do like company if they do not feel threatened by you. Be wary of their tails, they are quite huge and can sweep at you very fast.

Carolyn:shark2:

[Zippsy]

from a marine biologist from the National University of Singapore....

The fact of the matter is that the dermal denticles which are found on sharks and rays are apatite covered collagen pieces which are similar to the enamel over our teeth, and with chondrichthyes (or cartilaginous fish) the denticles dont grow larger but increase in number as the fish grows bigger. From what I remember from previous research on sharks, there is very little mucous and most of it is found around the head region and is usually associated with the gel capsules along the ampullae of lorenzini which are used for electroreception. The primary defence mechanism for sharks are the rough dermal skin which is partnered with an efficient wound recovery system (the denticles are known to grow back slowly) with no known studies if the small amount of mucus plays any role.

However, this is not necessarily the case for rays which actually do have a more pronounced mucous layer with less "rough" denticles. There have been reports that riding mantas can cause infections though whether its case of people removing mucous or transferring bacteria across from hands/gloves is still unstudied.

So in summary, there is no evidence to show that touching whale sharks is detrimental to their health, but can be an issue for manta rays if the animals are handled excessively.
My personal opinion about "joy rides" is from a slightly different perspective. I don't approve of such behaviour primarily because I put myself in the position of the these animals which are hydrodynamic in their design and shape. As such, anything/anyone hanging on decreases this locomotive efficiency and increases drag requiring more energy to move, thus needing more sustenance. Another reason is that people may not recognise when these fish are feeding (e.g. whale sharks filter feeding on the surface) and its unknown if these joy rides might actually be interrupting their normal feeding behaviours or patterns (it takes a lot to fill up a whale shark).


I'm still for not touching....