The work proposed will essentially raise public awareness for the conservation issues currently facing the whale shark. The project aims to educate the general community of the danger to the global whale shark population if hunting for this species continues at the current unsustainable rate.

The team will share the knowledge and experience; gained through the comprehensive research undertaken on this species in Australia since 1994 and will provide the expertise and training to encourage the move away from hunting to economically viable non-invasive ecotourism; 'Best practice' ecotourism guidelines have been developed and these; are currently being employed; across the whale shark ecotourism industry in Australia.