Utila, like no more than a dozen other places in the world, offers tourists a regular opportunity to see whale sharks. The biggest fish and shark in the sea, whale sharks can grow up to 20 m in length, and, as they are timid filter feeders, swimming with them is one of the most memorable experiences eco-tourists can find. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) can be seen year-round near Utila, but the best chances of seeing them are during the months of February through April.

In the past fifty years, populations of shark species have, on average, declined by 80-90% and the whale shark has been no exception. These amazing animals are on the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Animals as "indeterminate" status. This category applies to species known to be endangered, vulnerable or rare, but currently lacking enough available information to appropriately place it into one of these three categories.  The whale shark is listed as "Vulnerable" with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The IUCN is a global union of states, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations in a partnership that assesses the conservation status of species.

There is world-wide project conducted in order to collect data which would help to understand and protect them. In Utila, the data is collected by visiting divers and snorkellers and by local fishermen and processed by the Utila Whale Shark Research Project, which is managed locally by the staff of Deep Blue Utila. Data from the project is entered into the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library where it can be accessed by researchers all over the world.

Whale sharks may annually migrate more than 13,000km, their maximum recorded size is 20 m, but the average size of whale shark, as per data collected by the marine preserve in Ningaloo Reef, Australia, has shrunk from 7m to 5m in the past decade. Vital information such as their migratory routes, mating behavior, rates of sexual maturity, and population numbers have, until now, been largely a mystery.

Your home in the tropics

Utila Jungle Eco Lodge

Whale Sharks