September 2018
This year’s training sessions for the code of conduct came to an end last week, with a total of six sessions taking place across both Nosy Be and Nosy Komba. We are happy to have met and shared our knowledge with new operators this year, and hope the results will be put into action once out at sea to ensure sustainable and safe interactions for both whale sharks and humans.
Below is the updated list of operators that follow the code of conduct in Nosy Be and Nosy Komba:
-Baleines Rand’eau
-Safari Baleine
-Love Bubble Social Diving
-Sakatia Lodge
-Scuba Nosy Be
-Manta Diving
-Mada Scuba
-Nazaire Excursions
-MadagasCAT charters
-Océane’s Dream
-Sakalav’ Diving
-Our Ocean
-Andilana Beach Resort
-Anjiamarango
-Blue Vision
-Nosy Be Diving
-Nosy Komba Plongée
-Forever Dive
-Franco Rosso
If you have missed the opportunity to attend the training sessions, and wish to receive more information and training about the code of conduct, please contact us directly.
November 2017
More than 45 people showed up to Stella’s presentations back in September! The results are readily visible on the water, with more operators respecting the one shark per boat rule, meaning longer encounters with the sharks. The Code of Conduct is now available in French, English and Italian, and you can read more about the reasons behind introducing a code of conduct here. If you or your company, based in Nosy Be, requires a copy, please get in touch as we have both two-sided and one-sided water-resistant copies available in all 3 languages!
September 2017
Together with the Regional Tourism Office in Nosy Be, the MWSP Team is back in Nosy Be and will be delivering free training sessions about the updated code of conduct, following the first meeting on July 1st 2017 held by our Partner Mada Megafauna. Exact dates and meeting points are available here. The aim of these sessions is to convince operators to adopt a more respectful behaviour on the water to minimise risks for both whale sharks and swimmers. More to follow!
2016
As there is a local tourism industry directly based on swimming with the whale sharks, we are working directly with operators to implement best-practice sustainable whale shark tourism, based on training packages previously used successfully in Mozambique and Tanzania, and eventually train guides in the collection of whale shark photo-identification and data collection. This has the dual benefit of ensuring consistent, cost-effective data collection over the year, while also engaging operators and other local stakeholders in the process of developing management strategies. As whale sharks lack protection off Nosy Be yet are an important focal species for tourism, we will also be collecting annual business revenue from businesses associated with whale shark tourism to provide information on the socioeconomic importance of whale sharks.
Tanguy, guide and owner at Les Baleines Rand’eau and project partner, gives a briefing about whale sharks to tourists
During our 2016 season, together with our on-site partner Les Baleines Rand’eau we organised a presentation for all the whale watching and diving operators that could attend an October 2016 meeting. Having a good code of conduct in place works to both minimise any possible impacts of tourism on whale sharks, while also improving client satisfaction. All the operators present decided to trial these recommendations so they could assess their practicality in local conditions. From the following day onwards we could already see positive adoption of these recommendations, with each boat patiently waiting for their turn when another boat was swimming with a shark. Further work on this aspect will be pursued in the 2017 season.
Here’s a link to the presentation we gave in French and in English.