Maldives: Mating area for whale sharks designated for industrial development

Hanifaru Bay, home to a large numbers of whale sharks.

Hanifaru in Baa Atoll is an uninhabited island with a natural underwater bay famous for whale sharks. The bay, known to divers as ‘Aquarium’, and home to a large numbers of whale sharks, grey sharks, manta rays and sting rays, is also a nursery for these species.

The Maldives is a signatory of the Biodiversity Convention, Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Under these treaties the Maldives are obliged to ensure the conservation and protection of habitats and species in both national and international context.

Any industrial activity on Hanifaru will upset the fragile ecosystem of Vandhumaafaru Adi. This ecosystem, vital for the aggregations of whale sharks for mating, is a unique natural habitat and one of the very few such places in the world. It is imperative that this bay is protected from human encroachment and declared as a whale shark sanctuary.