Our News

Trapped Whale Shark Saved!

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea and a unique sight that is imprinted onto the memories of all that have seen it. This majestic filter feeder has become threatened throughout our oceans due to overfishing. On Monday night, the 27th of June, HEPCA received a call that a large whale shark was trapped in a lagoon near Shalateen. The 10 metre long fish had entered the lagoon and could not find its way out through the intensive coral formations at the mouth of the bay. Despite the large size of the lagoon, this rare and magnificent creature would have only survived a short time in the confined space. After making countless calls the same night, a team including the HEPCA Mooring Team and the Elba National Park was formed quickly to help the whale shark find its way out of the bay and back into the open sea. The team spent 3 days with the massive shark using different techniques to get him out of the lagoon by trying to minimize the stress factors the colossal fish was exposed to. Late Thursday afternoon the team managed to free the whale shark and release him into the open sea again. The HEPCA Mooring Team sent back the news expressing their joy that the animal was in good health. We would like to give very special thanks to the Elba National Park for their help in saving the whale shark. We are glad to see them operating again and hope for successful cooperation in the future. Thanks also go to the local fishermen, who dropped all their work in order to save the world’s largest fish. Everyone did an amazing job and can be very proud of their accomplishments. As being a destination depending on the marine life, everyone living in, working in or visiting the Red Sea knows how precious these animals are for us. We are glad that this individual got the chance to continue swimming through our waters and exploring the beauty of the Red Sea.