Whale sharks are the largest fish on Earth and popular subjects for swimming and snorkeling tourism. Managing ecotourism to protect these vulnerable animals from disturbance is a key welfare and conservation challenge.
Whale shark tourism exemplifies the complex relationship between conservation, welfare, and economic development. At its best, ecotourism creates powerful incentives for protection and generates the funding that supports monitoring and management. At its worst, it subjects endangered animals to chronic disturbance, habitat exclusion, and altered behavior that compromises both individual welfare and population health. The difference lies in governance quality. Science-based regulations on group size, approach distances, duration of interactions, and prohibition on feeding can make whale shark ecotourism genuinely beneficial rather than harmful to the animals it celebrates.