About ECOCEAN
ECOCEAN is a globally recognised, non-government, not-for-profit organization based in Western Australia working towards scientific research, education and conservation of the marine environment. It’s flagship species, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), is the world’s largest fish and an iconic animal for marine conservation.
ECOCEAN was founded in 1995 by marine conservation biologist Dr Brad Norman and was incorporated in 2006. Brad also helped in the establishment of the partner organisation WildMe who manage the global whale shark photo-identification library – Sharkbook: Wildbook for Whale Sharks.
ECOCEAN is proud to have contributed to the protection of the ENDANGERED whale shark both in Australia and internationally .
For more information, see our Conservation page.
ECOCEAN’s research was originally focused on the whale shark population found off the Ningaloo coast in northwest Western Australia. Whilst studying this population in 1995, ECOCEAN’s lead scientist Dr Brad Norman was able to establish that photo-identification of individual spot patterns could be used to monitor the whale shark (much like finger prints). A collaborative study with WildMe (USA)’s Information Architect Jason Holmberg and NASA Astrophysicist Zaven Arzoumanian enabled the development of software to identify individual whale sharks and set up a monitoring platform for the species.
This whale shark photo-identification database, originally known as the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library has gone global. It is now known as Sharkbook: Wildbook for Whale Sharks and currently holds in excess of 50,000 photos from more than 50 countries. As a result of significant volunteer input from many committed stakeholders, this is now the largest whale shark monitoring program in the world.
In addition to photo-identification, ECOCEAN has been using a variety of cutting-edge techniques to collect data on whale sharks at Ningaloo and elsewhere, including the Maldives, Shark Bay, Tokelau and Christmas Island. Check these out on our research page!