Whale shark population rises along AP coast

Kakinada: The population of whale sharks in the Indian Ocean is increasing, while their number is decreasing in the other oceans. The biologists have many whale sharks along east coast particularly Visakhapatnam and Kakinada sea waters. According to scientists, whale sharks can give a boost to tourism, but the governments were not able to tap the potential due to negligence.

However, unfortunately, the fishermen killed the endangered species whenever they found them due to lack of knowledge on their importance. The killing of whale sharks is crime under Wild Life Protection Act.

“Currently, there is no proper estimation on the global whale shark population as they move from ocean to ocean. However, most of the species are appearing in the sea waters of Visakhapatnam and Kakinada,” said U. Sridhar, the principal scientist of Central Institute of Fish Technology.

He said that whale sharks should not be killed as they protect the other marine species in the sea, playing a scavenger role to clean the ocean. East Godavari Riverine and Estuarine Ecosystem senior biologist K. Sathiya Selvam said that as per the available records, the global whale shark numbers are declining and it is protected in more than 12 countries in the world.

“Kakinada Coast is becoming the hot spot for the whale sharks now. Steps should be taken for protecting whale sharks. Otherwise, the sea waters, and marine life could be polluted and it will have harmful impact on mankind in future,” said the EGREE Foundation state convener K. Tulsi Rao.