Adult female whale sharks make long-distance movements past Darwin Island (Galapagos, Ecuador) in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

摘要: Most previous studies on whale shark movements have been immature sharks. Here, we present tracking data for large females that tagged at the Galapagos Islands, where they occur seasonally. We conducted fieldwork Darwin Island (1.67, 92.0°W) from July to October in 2011 and 2012. often saw individual sharks several times a particular day, but rarely them again more than 2 days later after were first sighted. 39 female sharks, 36 of which between 8 12 m long. tracked 27 9–176 days (median = 47 day). Sharks moved west into open ocean, whereas those September toward coast South America. They travelled 49 2747 km (median = 1296 km), about 38 km day−1 (median rate). observed five various >1 month absence, by photo-identification (n = 2) or satellite track (n = 3). Tracks lasted through December ended along continental shelf break northern Peru. show return individuals moving distances ocean establish connectivity with mainland Ecuador