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Whale Shark Adventures Kenya

Whale Shark Adventures Kenya

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Highlights

“Amazing”

”Thrilling”

”Mind blowing”

”Fintastic”

”Awesome”

Overview

We start our annual whale shark research expeditions beginning of October and run daily (minimum 6 participants required) until 15/3. Departure time is 08:00 and we are back around 12:00 depending on the wind. Sometimes we also do afternoon trips: 12:00-16:00.

All our trips are guided by a spotter airplane that guides us to the sharks via radio, hence our success rate.

Departure location depends on where the sharks were seen the day before, either Diani North or Diani South.

We also snorkel with encountered dolphins and sometimes whales depending on the approachability, sometimes we come across shy animals, these we leave alone.

All tours include snorkeling equipment, mineral water and fruits.

Minimum age is 4 years.

 

Photo Gallery

Video

Ethics

At Terra Incognita we support tours that do good in the world. They must help conserve the environment, support local people and provide educational opportunities for guests and staff, or be actively working to improve in these areas.

What conservation activities do you support through the tour, and your wider operations?

We work together with whale shark researchers all over the world with whom we share our data. This will help us detect decline over the coming years. We do photo ID, length measurements and determine gender of every encountered shark. We also do migration research.

In 2007 we broke the world record attaching 22 PAT tags (pop-up archival transmitting tags - which use satellite technology to track the movements and behaviour of fish and other animals) to whale sharks.

In 2015 we finally got the whale shark listed in the new Kenyan wildlife bill. After 7 years of lobbying the whale shark now enjoys the same protection as our elephants and rhinos..

How does the tour support local people?

We work closely with fishermen, educating them about the value of a live shark compared to a dead one.

We also visit local schools where we present our marine awareness project and organize weekly beach cleanups.

Among other initiatives we donate menstrual cups to adolescent schoolgirls. World bank estimates that girls in developing nations loose 20% of their education because they cannot afford to buy pads. The menstrual cup changes their lives immediately, empowering them to continue their education. 1 cup lasts their entire life. Compare that to 12-14.000 used pads per woman who can afford them, ending up in landfills, eventually our oceans. An ecological disaster as they end up choking our marine life!

What type of environmental education activities do you incorporate into your tour?

We interact with participants throughout their tour, answering questions and informing them about our research. Before participants join they get a visual presentation sent to them, about us, what we do and what to expect. (YouTube Papa Shillingi). We also share our 2007-2009 PAT tag migration research with anyone who is interested to learn more.

Do you provide any additional conservation, community or educational benefits through your wider operations that you’d like to mention?

We buy giant fossil clamshells (Tridacna Gigantea) from the local communities. These giant clams became extinct during the later Pleistocene period around 180.000 years ago and are sometimes found inland, deeply embedded in ancient limestone quarries that were once coral reefs. These we polish and sell worldwide, creating jobs and money that we use to finance our various outreach projects. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p04tp3br

I want to point out that before we started collecting these ancient relics they were bought up by Bamburi Cement Factory, milled down to powder which is used for the production of White Cement.

T.Gigantea were the largest clam species ever to exist, the largest ever found: 530 kilo, twice the size of the current world record in Guinness book of World Records.

Note: the clamshell mentioned in Guinness book of World Records is a 270 kilo Tridacna Gigas shell, a living species of giant clams that exist in and around the South China Sea. These are on the verge of extinction, heavily protected under C.I.T.E.S appendix 1, same as ivory and rhino horn (rightfully so) with heavy fines and imprisonment if caught importing/exporting them.
In comparison, T.Gigantea is extinct, hence worldwide export/import is legal as C.I.T.E.S only deals with living species of flora & fauna.

Part of the funds selling these clamshells has also gone back into the conservation of T.Gigas in HaiNan/China. Volker Bassen is now a honorary member of HaiNan’s Sea Shell Conservation Council and has introduced ways of breeding T.Gigas artificially through his friend Phil Door. “Pointing fingers will not achieve anything, you have to interact with these people from within. That is the only thing that will provoke real change, sharing information as well as mindset” Volker Bassen.

Check our photo gallery to see these ancient treasures and find out more: https://venuscollection.co.uk/

Our menstrual cup initiative has also been funded through the sales of these ancient treasures from Mother Nature..https://www.wondercup.org/

 

Top 5 achievements

Getting the whale shark on Kenyas wildlife bill, now enjoying the same protection as our elephants and rhinos (though it sometimes looks as if we are losing the battle..)

Mobilizing tourism stakeholders, local communities and politicians to stop a devastating sand harvesting project in Kenya.

Setting up a artificial breeding project of T.Gigas in HaiNan/China.

Founding & funding WonderCup.org, supplying adolescent schoolgirls with top quality menstrual cups.

Starting a beach cleanup initiative in Diani Beach using orphans and school children.

Plus: Educating the masses about marine conservation along the Kenyan coast for 3 decades.

What new sustainability steps or initiatives do you plan to take next?

We need to increase our efforts removing plastic from the sea. We (jointly with others) are now in the process of setting up a plastic recycling plant in Ukunda/Kenya. This is much needed elsewhere and will hopefully create many jobs.

We have started doing turtle counts from the air which will show us future turtle population trends.

 

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Company Name

Whale Shark Adventures

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About Company

We are Kenya’s top responsible whale shark tour operator working hand in hand with the East African Whale Shark Trust. A lot of our focus is put into research and education. Our whale shark expeditions  have been voted “Kenya’s best wildlife experience” year after year. Our tours are guided by spotter airplanes, hence our success. We also use drones, both air and underwater allowing us to capture world class footage of our participants swimming with the sharks. Diani (voted Africa’s best beach by WTA 5 years in a row!) is the only place in the world where you can swim with the biggest fish in the ocean in the morning and track the biggest land animal, the elephant, in the afternoon. An unbeatable combination. Welcome!

Tour Website

Click to visit the tour website

Cost

Cost per person is 200U$D which includes transfer within Diani, snorkeling equipment, mineral water and fruits.

Children under 10 pay half price.

Group Discount 15% starting from 8 participants.

15% Kenyan resident discount.

Get your whale shark experience filmed! Our underwater videographers will focus on taking awesome footage of you and the sharks, fully edited including our highlights from previous expeditions. National Geographic stuff! Cost: 50U$ pp.

Group size

We require a minimum of 6 participants to cover costs.

We can take up to 24 people per day in 3 speed boats.

Each group of 6 have their own guide who is a certified PADI Dive Master.

We also have rescue swimmers onboard to supervise in-water activity, ready to act immediately if a problem occurs (though we never had any issues so far)

Our main research vessel can take 12 participants so even if you are a larger group that want to “stick” together this can be done.

+254720555222 or +254726775047
info@whalesharkadventures.org
www.whalesharkadventures.org

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    About Terra Incognita

    We believe that ecotourism can be a powerful force for good in the world, and seek to promote the best examples of ecotourism worldwide.

    Our mission is to empower a global community that travels for good.

    Our vision is a world where tourism drives positive change for people and wildlife.

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    • Reconciling man with nature through ethical wildlife tours
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    • Travellers seek wellness for people and planet post-Covid – Neophron Tours

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