Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme
A satellite project in the Maldives with the team tracking whale sharks — the biggest fish in the sea — from 2017 until 2020.
The collaboration between the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) and Green Teen Team is a perfect example of our satellite projects — partnerships that carry the GTT spirit to some of the most extraordinary corners of the planet.
And few animals are more extraordinary than the whale shark: the biggest fish in the sea, a gentle giant that cruises the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. The MWSRP has been successfully tracking whale sharks in the Maldive Islands, building the knowledge needed to protect them for generations to come.
The MWSRP is a research-based conservation charity dedicated to studying the whale shark and fostering community-focused conservation initiatives in the Maldives and the greater Indian Ocean. That community focus matters: lasting conservation happens when the people who share their waters with an animal become its champions.
GTT worked on an educational project with the MWSRP from 2017, providing a platform for marine science studies in the Maldives and opening a window into ocean research for young people. Sadly, the project was stopped by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 — but it remains a brilliant example of how far a shared love of wildlife can travel.