The fishermen in Gujarat spend a great deal of time looking for stars.
Not in the sky, but in the water.
I’m amused as one of them, Ratilal Bamaniya (47), tells me this. He is referencing the technique they use to spot whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), one of the world’s largest fish species that’s known to grow up to 60 feet long and is covered in a unique pattern of spots and stripes: “Paani mein taare (stars in the water),” Ratilal smiles.
While the fisherfolk of Gujarat’s Veraval now seek out these ‘stars’ to navigate their boats around the ‘endangered’ fish, this wasn’t always the case. In the late 1900s, they used the same method to find, kill, and sell them; fin soup was considered a prized delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Ratilal explains that the fisherfolk would earn Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,50,000 per fish; meanwhile, the liver oil would be used to waterproof their boats.
So, what caused the change of heart?
The unique spot patterns on the whale shark are used for population tracking.
“In 2004, meetings were held, and we were told to stop killing the whale shark,” Ratilal explains. “The fish was likened to a deer in the forest; they (the department officials and spiritual leader Morari Bapu) told us that the animal was harmless and that it wasn’t hurting us in any way, and so, we should stop hurting it too.”
The precursor for this reasoning lies in a documentary film, Shores of Silence (2000), by wildlife filmmaker Mike Pandey. It drew attention to the whale shark, leading to the Indian government banning the killing of the fish and listing it under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thus granting it the highest legal protection. It also sparked a movement towards the protection of the fish, led by the Wildlife Trust of India.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the largest fish on Earth, is found along India’s entire coastline.
But as the team at Wildlife Trust of India reiterates, even though the whale shark is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and has the highest level of legal protection, the common man remains unaware of its implications. Hence, in 2004, the Wildlife Trust of India launched the Gujarat Whale Shark Conservation Project to sensitise fishers and address the decline of the endangered species.
Taking the learnings from the Gujarat project, WTI expanded the project to other aggregation sites in Kerala and Lakshadweep in 2017, and Goa was added in 2025, turning into an inclusive project as ‘Pan India Whale Shark Conservation Project’.
Saving the gentle giants of the sea
The same fisherfolk who hunted down the whale sharks now protect them.
Then why are additional campaign measures still needed?
We turn to Saymanti B, Manager and Head, Campaigns Division, Wildlife Trust of India, for answers.
“The Pan India Whale Shark Conservation Project focuses on sensitising fishers to release accidentally entangled whale sharks. The biggest threats to whale sharks along the coast, and globally, are accidental entanglement, boat collisions, and plastic pollution. Wildlife Trust of India’s projects are aimed at mitigating these risks and saving lives,” she shares.
She continues, “In regions such as Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, and Lakshadweep, we work closely with fishing communities, encouraging and training them to safely release whale sharks caught in their nets by cutting the nets and allowing the animals to return to the wild. This remains one of the primary areas of our work.”
Wildlife Trust of India works with fishing communities in regions such as Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, and Lakshadweep, training them to safely release whale sharks caught in their nets.
Saymanti elaborates, “We use a range of tagging methods, and currently rely on a SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature) tag, which is attached to the whale shark’s dorsal fin. Each time the animal surfaces, the tag transmits valuable location data. When a whale shark is accidentally entangled, fishers often step in to cut the nets and release it.”
But as Ratilal mentions, they often had to save the fish at the expense of their nets. “We had to cut our nets to release the entangled fish. Our nets would get damaged in the process, and we faced losses,” he explains. So, in 2007, when the Gujarat government started offering a compensation of Rs 25,000 (now increased to Rs 50,000) to fisherfolk to offset damage to the fishing nets, it came as a relief.
Seeing Ratilal take the lead in conservation efforts towards the whale shark, his son, Mohit Bamaniya (24), was inspired. Last year, he joined the Wildlife Trust of India as an Assistant Field Officer and Field Biologist, where his role includes tagging whale sharks and observing the fish’s migration patterns.
The coast of Gujarat is thought to be a breeding ground where whale sharks come to give birth. This is confirmed by the sighting of 20 whale shark pups here since the project began.
From nets to networks of care
Like Mohit, many young people are now stepping forward to protect the whale shark. “In places like Gujarat, where the programme has been active for many years, a strong local network has developed, including ‘Friends of the Whale Shark’ — volunteer youth who assist in rescue efforts,” Saymanti shares.
Awareness campaigns around different regions emphasise the importance of conserving and protecting the whale shark.
She adds that during rescues, a coordinated team is present, including a veterinary officer from the Forest Department, a marine biologist, and a sociologist from Wildlife Trust of India. “Once the shark is safely freed, the team conducts satellite telemetry tagging before releasing it back into the wild,” she adds.
Until now, Wildlife Trust of India has tagged 11 whale sharks along the Gujarat coast.
In a further bid towards conservation, over 1,200 cameras were distributed in 2011 to fishers in Gujarat, enabling them to record rescue operations and access compensation for net damage from the Gujarat Forest Department. In 2012, this supported the self-documentation scheme.
With evolving needs, Wildlife Trust of India has also developed a mobile application, ‘Vhali Watcher’, which is currently being tested and refined to make the process more robust and efficient. It allows fishers to document the rescue of entangled whale sharks and submit sightings to the forest department to help build a database.
To date, Wildlife Trust of India has been successful in rescuing and releasing 1,029 whale sharks back to the wild.
Much of this change can be traced back to a story that reached far beyond the screen.
‘Shores of Silence’
Mike Pandey is a three-time Wildscreen Panda Award winner (often called the ‘Green Oscars’), a Jackson Wild Legacy Award (2024) recipient, and the founder of Riverbank Studios. He believes in storytelling that creates impact.
A case in point is his documentary film Shores of Silence, which led to the outlawing of the culling of whale sharks. The film went on to win the Wildscreen Panda Award in 2000.
Whale shark culling was prominent around the coast of Gujarat around the 1900s. Photograph: (Mike Pandey)
Mike first spotted the fish when he was 10 years old on a trip from Mombasa, Kenya, to Mumbai. “We were on a steamship passing through Porbandar, Gujarat, when, while standing on the deck, I saw a school of whale sharks following our ship. We rushed into our cabin, got some bread, and started throwing it towards them to lure them; they were such tiny dots in the vast ocean.”
In 1997, while filming a documentary on lions along the coast of Porbandar, Mike encountered the fish once again. The same surge of love returned, only this time, it was accompanied by purpose. Standing before the dying creature, he made a quiet promise to protect its kind.
He shares, “I felt the need to explain to people the role whale sharks play and why we were fighting to protect them. It was a crucial time when we made Shores of Silence. Most people did not believe India even had whale sharks.”
Mike Pandey is a three-time Wildscreen Panda Award winner (the awards are equated to the ‘Green Oscars’). Photograph: (Mike Pandey)
The film led to ripples of impact.
Within three months of its release, whale sharks were added to Schedule I under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Seven months later, the documentary was screened at the CITES summit (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), and an appeal was made to protect whale sharks, helping bring them global recognition and protection — “literally saving them from the brink of extinction,” Mike says. He adds, “A small film that wasn’t supported by anyone gave the animal a chance to breathe.”
Learning to see the ‘stars’ differently
Surveys conducted by Wildlife Trust of India in the year 2005 in Veraval, Gujarat, the hub of whale shark fisheries, indicated awareness levels as low as 19 percent, and highlighted rampant hunting along Gujarat’s coastline.
This led WTI to launch an awareness campaign with the support of the Gujarat Forest Department, Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), aimed at curbing the illegal killing of whale sharks, preventing accidental entanglement in fishing gear, and promoting conservation efforts. The initiative saw the coming together of government bodies, NGOs, corporate partners, and even spiritual leaders.
Fishermen, once hunters of the species, have become its protectors, leading to a shift in perception and increased conservation action.
The campaign tasted visible success. There was a rise in awareness and empathy for whale sharks among the fishing community. By 2025, WTI reported that “100 percent of the fisherfolk could recognise the species and were aware of its presence in Gujarat and its legal protection, while 96 percent understood its harmless nature — a complete transformation from 2005, when awareness ranged between 42 percent and 81 percent”.
Every effort now goes into ensuring the whale shark feels safe along the coast; that the waters of Gujarat are always filled with these ‘stars’.
All pictures courtesy Wildlife Trust of India
This story is part of a content series by The Better India and Wildlife Trust of India.
