New research reveals that whale sharks are traveling much farther than previously understood.
A decade-long, satellite tracking study across the Indo-Pacific has shown whale sharks moving between feeding grounds, migration corridors and international waters across 13 countries and territories — highlighting both the importance of Indonesia’s whale shark hotspots and the need for wider marine protection.
Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the study analyzed satellite tracking data from 70 whale sharks tagged between 2015 and 2025 at four major Indonesian aggregation sites: Cenderawasih Bay in West Papua, Kaimana near Triton Bay, West Papua, Saleh Bay in Sumbawa and the Gulf of Tomini in Sulawesi.
Researchers found that whale sharks are using a network of feeding areas, migration corridors and seasonal habitats across the central Indo-Pacific.
The paper culminates over a decade of research, representing one of the largest satellite tag datasets for whale sharks ever studied. Seventy whale sharks were tracked, averaging over 400 days per tag, with the longest tag lasting 990 days.
The research details whale sharks’ extensive seasonal movements across 13 countries and territories — including Australia, Christmas Island, Guam, Gilbert Islands, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste — and into extensive “Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction,” demonstrating the species’ highly transboundary nature and that the Indo-Pacific population — representing around 60% of the global total — spends most of their lives in largely unprotected waters.
Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra, focal species conservation senior manager at Konservasi Indonesia and lead author said:
“We now understand not only where whale sharks aggregate, but also when, where and why they move across the ocean. This shifts our species management perspective — from isolated sites in Indonesia to a fully interconnected pelagic system.”
Putra added:
“What’s clear is whale shark conservation cannot stop at national borders. We found over 40% of adult male habitat is in the high seas — areas that function as migration corridors and opportunistic feeding zones linked to seamounts, canyons, and eddies. Protecting these habitats is critical to maintaining connectivity and sustaining the population.”
Dr. Edy Setyawan, the lead conservation scientist of the Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia, said:
“Whale sharks have ancient ocean pathways, and we are only just starting to understand them. From aggregation sites in the Indonesian archipelago, they travel huge distances, guided by food, currents, and environmental cues. Many of these journeys take them into international waters and high seas, where protections are limited. That’s where these Endangered animals face the biggest dangers from unsustainable fisheries and busy shipping routes.”
Check out the full study here.
