Whale Shark

Photo: Simon Pierce · CC BY-NC

Whale sharks aggregate reliably at Netrani Pinnacle from October through May, driven by seasonal upwelling along the Karnataka coast that concentrates zooplankton and fish eggs in the water column. Individual sharks — many identifiable by unique spot patterns on their flanks — are frequently encountered on the same pinnacle across multiple seasons, suggesting site fidelity and a learned feeding behaviour. Encounters here are exceptional because the pinnacle's depth keeps sharks at recreational diving depths rather than the 30-plus-metre depths where surface snorkel encounters often occur elsewhere.