It always amazes me how people can be oblivious to things in their own back yard.

So often we can travel all over the world to see the sights and sounds of foreign soil before ever really exploring the wonderful places and things a little closer to home. So it has proved in the Maldives, too. We hosted a school trip around the south Ari Atoll yesterday, an excursion which was supposed to be an ‘exciting voyage of discovery’ for them, as I thought. As it turned out, I think I was more surprised than they were. Most of them had never seen a whale shark. Period. I asked one of the teachers if they had seen one either. ‘Oh yes’, she replied. Relieved, I asked where she had experienced this doubtless magnificent spectacle. ‘On television…..several times’ was the response. Hmmmm….

It is amazing to me that many Maldivians have never even seen the biggest fish in the ocean, when the whole area is a veritable “hot-spot’. Its like living in Central Park and never seeing a pidgeon. Then again, its seems that a connection between the whale sharks and the local people has been lost. Fishing for these animals has been banned for years now, but the connection between them has also been cut. Much of the work that the MWSRP is doing out here is to do with re-establishing that connection between the people and the sharks; there is much to be gained on both sides.

So the trip itself was a lot of fun. It started with a brief introduction to the whale sharks through a presentation from Rachel and I, and then we were out onto the reef to look for some sharks! The kids were great fun from start to finish. Although they were a little shy to start off with, they really got involved with what we were doing and they seemed really excited at the prospect of seeing a whale shark.

We took them for a cruise through the FenMaDhiguRan Marine Protected Area on the hunt for some sharks (figuratively speaking, of course). The area -MPA- was created by the maldivian government based on the reasearch of the MWSRP, and is now the cornerstone for creating sound economic and ecological guidelines for those who use it. We didn’t really think in the limited time that we had for the trip that we would be able to find a whale shark, so instead we went to a quiet spot for some snorkelling. You can see from the pictures that it went down quite a storm! 

The students had had a great time, but just as we were heading for home, we struck gold. 3 whales sharks in quick succession! Not all of the class wanted to get in the water, but even those who stayed on board looked amazed at the sheer size of the animals. It made me smile to see the same expressions on their faces as I know I would have had on mine oynl weeks previously.

I think I always just assumed that the work the team did out here was 100% about the sharks, and although that is undoubtably important, it seems that community mobilisation is the top priority. After all without the support of the local community, the programme cannot realistically continue to exsist, and it is with these people that the future of the MWSRP lies.

The students and teachers alike went home with a smiles on their faces; happily chatting about the day and sharing photos with each other. I think we can can all be happy that, for this group at least, the connection with whale sharks has been found again.