Roberto

Whale Shark Tracking with SPOT Tags off the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

A project of Proyecto Domino.

click map for full-size version Movement of adult male whale shark 'Roberto' tagged northeast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico on July 16, 2011 with a SPOT5 transmitter.

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Species: Whale Shark
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Male
Release Date: 2011-07-16 15:45:00
Release Location: Northeast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Last Location: 2011-08-18 07:07:40

Background

Roberto is an adult male whale shark with an estimated total length of 6.5 meters. He was tagged with a towed (floating) SPOT5 satellite transmitter on July 16th, 2011 NE of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, a location known as the ‘Afuera’. This offshore feeding area of blue water attracts large numbers of whale sharks during the summer months. While in this area, these filter feeding giants appear to gorge themselves on the abundant fish eggs in the surface waters - primarily from the little tunny (Euthynnus alletteratus).