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Ahmedabad, Nov. 27 The Chowpatty Cricket Ground in Porbandar city of Gujarat, birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, on Thursday attracted a huge crowd gathered for the annual Whale Shark Day celebration with Indian and international marine experts participating to celebrate the existence and protection of whale sharks in what is billed as a unique voluntary conservation program at the mass level.

The Whale Shark Day, which is a part of the internationally-acclaimed whale shark conservation campaign, is a joint initiative of Tata Chemicals Ltd, Gujarat Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India — International Fund for Animal Welfare (WTI-IFAW).

Last week, two MoUs were signed here between these participants. Supported by a Rs 2-crore fund by TCL, the research on whale shark science and coral reef conservation will be conducted by WTI with the Gujarat Forest Department and technical expertise from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and international marine experts, according to a TCL release here.

The programme was launched in January 2004 to spread awareness, educate and change perceptions about the world’s largest fish among specific target groups in Gujarat. Spiritual guru Morari Bapu’s involvement in this campaign boosted popular support to it. Till date, about 80 protected whale sharks have been released by the fishermen off the Gujarat coast, demonstrating that the campaign has converted hunters into protectors.

Whale Shark Day 2008, or Vhali Utsav as it is locally called, began with a colourful procession being filmed by an Australian team, marking the success of the four-year-old Whale Shark Campaign in Gujarat with thousands of students and others in attendance.

Hunted brutally till a decade ago, the whale shark was placed under Schedule One of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This development was triggered by the award-winning documentary film, “Shores of Silence” by Mike Pandey.

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