Whale sharks - the world's largest fish - face bycatch, vessel strikes, and entanglement as major welfare threats despite their protected status. Individual injuries and deaths represent significant losses for slow-reproducing populations.
Whale sharks struck by ships experience traumatic injuries that may cause prolonged suffering before death. Entangled individuals face exhaustion, injury, and potential drowning. Each lost individual represents decades of lost reproductive potential for a slowly recovering population. At aggregation sites, direct interactions with tourist dive operations can cause harassment and displace feeding behavior. Vessel strike prevention through routing measures in known whale shark habitat reduces individual injury risk. Photo-ID programs tracking individuals over years reveal injury rates and patterns that guide conservation priorities.