Why do Whale Sharks Swim to Cancun for a Spring Break

Dr Simon J. Pierce · Issue 128, Sep/Oct 2022 · pp. 49–53

Mexico, specifically the area north of Isla Mujeres on the Yucatan Peninsula, is the seasonal home of large numbers of whale sharks over the summer months. It probably offers the world’s most consistent sightings of whale sharks for tourists over the northern hemisphere summer. But why are they there? And what do we know about them? As one of the worlds few specialist whale shark researchers, hopefully I can help provide some answers. Whale sharks are immensely popular with divers. Its easy to forget that seeing a whale shark was, until recently, a once in a lifetime event. Only 320 sightings had ever been documented until the 1980s, even though these huge sharks are distributed from New Zealand to New York. It turns out we just didnt know where to look. Tropical surface waters are a biological desert. Sure, coral reefs are incredibly rich in life, but they’re isolated oases in a literal…