The fishermen in Gujarat spend a great deal of time looking for stars. 

Not in the sky, but in the water.  

I’m amused as one of them, Ratilal Bamaniya (47), tells me this. He is referencing the technique they use to spot whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), one of the world’s largest fish species that’s known to grow up to 60 feet long and is covered in a unique pattern of spots and stripes: “Paani mein taare (stars in the water),” Ratilal smiles. 

While the fisherfolk of Gujarat’s Veraval now seek out these ‘stars’ to navigate their boats around the ‘endangered’ fish, this wasn’t always the case. In the late 1900s, they used the same method to find, kill, and sell them; fin soup was considered a prized delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Ratilal explains that the fisherfolk would earn Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,50,000 per fish; meanwhile, the liver oil would be used to waterproof their boats. 

So, what caused the change of heart? 

“In 2004, meetings were held, and we were told to stop killing the whale shark,” Ratilal explains. “The fish was likened to a deer in the forest; they (the department officials and spiritual leader Morari Bapu) told us that the animal was harmless and that it wasn’t hurting us in any way, and so, we should stop hurting it too.” 

The precursor for this reasoning lies in a documentary film, Shores of Silence (2000), by wildlife filmmaker Mike Pandey. It drew attention to the whale shark, leading to the Indian government banning the killing of the fish and listing it under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thus granting it the highest legal protection. It also sparked a movement towards the protection of the fish, led by the Wildlife Trust of India. 

But as the team at Wildlife Trust of India reiterates, even though the whale shark is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and has the highest level of legal protection, the common man remains unaware of its implications. Hence, in 2004, the Wildlife Trust of India launched the Gujarat Whale Shark Conservation Project to sensitise fishers and address the decline of the endangered species. 

Taking the learnings from the Gujarat project, WTI expanded the project to other aggregation sites in Kerala and Lakshadweep in 2017, and Goa was added in 2025, turning into an inclusive project as ‘Pan India Whale Shark Conservation Project’. 

Saving the gentle giants of the sea

The same........

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