About

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) or locally known as “tuki”, the world’s largest fish, were listed as endangered species by World Wildlife organization. These whale sharks have shown in the waters off Oslob since the 1980s. Before, the fisherman in Oslob considered the whale shark as “pest” for destroying their nets and driving away other fishes.

Last October 2011, in a small village of Tan-awan Oslob, Jerson Soriano, started feeding a whale shark with krill or baby shrimps after it continuously bumped its snout to his banca while fishing. In the next few days, more whale sharks length varies from 2 to 6 meters came to the shores of Tan-awan after the feeding. The largest whale shark that shown was called as Big Mama which was large as 9 meters long bus. Soon, dive resort in the area asked the fishermen if they could guide them to the whale-watching site. At first, the fishermen charged P150 to P200 each for their services, but some tour groups later handed them for a larger amount until TOWSFA (fishermen organization) was organized.