Whale Shark conservation holiday in Tanzania
Please enquire for more information.
Description of Whale Shark conservation holiday in Tanzania
This exciting and varied programme provides a unique opportunity to interact with magnificent whale sharks on a daily basis, simultaneously gaining valuable skills and experience in both marine conservation and the responsible tourism industry. During the project, volunteers will have the exciting opportunities to:
- Help plan and execute daily whale shark tourism excursions: This will be one of the principal activities which you will be involved with whilst at this eye opening conservation project. Whilst at sea, volunteers will be deployed on tourist boats on a rotational basis or conduct vital marine research.
- Manage tourist participation in the global spot photo ID project: You will help to spot the whale sharks and record important data on those you encounter. Volunteers then get to share their marine knowledge as they brief tourists and crew boats on their findings. You will develop organizational skills, planning excursions out to sea and spreading awareness of the importance of whale shark conservation.
- Learn to recognize individual whale sharks and ID them: This is an integral part of this project as you will input collected and collated data into a database, which will help to identify the individual sharks themselves (males, females, juveniles, size and more!) for wider whale shark research.
- Encourage Community participation: During your stay, you will participate in one or more local development projects such as: teaching English, swimming lessons and whale shark conservation awareness.
- Mandatory skills and theory classes: Volunteers will be able to take part in the following (at no extra cost): introduction to Swahili language and culture, theory and practice of skin diving, introduction to photography and videography, tropical Indo-Pacific fish identification, whale shark biology as well as other marine conservation issues in Mafia!
This really is a jam packed project that we are sure you will enjoy, and return with a greater understanding of these beautiful creatures. Become a whale shark volunteer today!
Price information
Please enquire for more information.
Departure information
Travel guides
Responsible Travel
Planet
This programme provides experience in both marine conservation and the responsible tourism industry and teaches people how to better care for their environment. This project supports important on-going marine conservation efforts and hosts research projects to learn more about whale sharks. You will contribute to the global spot-pattern photo identification project, which seeks to identify individuals and subsequently map the movements of whale sharks. Whale shark spot-patterns are like fingerprints and therefore enable one to add their location to a worldwide database. The attraction of this method is that it does not involve tagging or otherwise interfering with the animals. This data helps to understand the sharks' movements and conserve the species in the most sustainable way.Rubbish is also a major problem within the Indian Ocean, so volunteers will be involved with regular beach sweeps and clean ups. This makes a big difference to everybody on the island and the surrounding region, so there will often be half day beach cleans to try and reverse the detrimental effects of ocean pollution.
People
The project aims to research the impact of tourism on the whale shark species, analysing the behaviour of the sharks upon encounters with tourists and fishermen, and encouraging locals to adhere to codes of conduct during these incidents.As well as encouraging locals to operate responsibly, you will also participate in one or more local development projects for communities on the island, as mentioned above. Many people (tourists and locals) don't understand the importance of whale shark and wider shark conservation, so your role as a volunteer here is essential in making people understand just why these magnificent animals need to be preserved.
This is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in a local community environment and really help to make a difference to both the communities that live here and the marine environment with which they are immersed in.
Popular similar holidays
Family volunteering in Tanzania
From £530 - £630 14 days excluding flights
Memorable family holiday which makes a difference
Tanzania volunteering and safari
From £930 14 days excluding flights
Make a difference and experience the Serengeti plains
Lake Victoria eco lodge and cultural holiday, Tanzania
From €700 14 days excluding flights
Relaxed cultural travel experience in northern Tanzania
