I read everything I could find and found out the spot pattern on whale sharks is unique (just like how we have unique fingerprints)! Scientists take photos of whale sharks and identify individual sharks by matching the spots to sharks they photographed in the past. There is a special website that people can upload pictures to and it will tell them if the shark has been seen in the past, or if it’s a new shark. Right now mainly scientists upload photos but lots of tourists go on ocean safaris to snorkel with the sharks every year. I wanted to know why more tourists don’t upload their pictures.
I contacted the organization that runs the website and asked if I could research ways to get more tourists to upload their photos. The organization is in Mozambique so I would have to travel there to work with them. They agreed so I started writing a research plan and made a timeline for my work. I applied for a Fulbright research grant to fund my research. Once I was accepted for the grant I began planning my journey! First I had to fly from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia which was two hours. Next, I had to fly from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa which took fifteen hours! It was the longest plane ride I had ever been on! Luckily there were lots of fun movies to watch and I was able to sleep for a few hours! After I arrived in South Africa I then had to fly for one more hour to get to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. I spent a week in the capital before taking a bus for eight hours to reach my final destination of Tofo beach!
I cannot wait to take you on this journey with me!
