The Whale Shark

FACTS & FIGURES
Whale sharks normally range from 5-10 metres but have been reported to reach the length of 20 metres. They can swim up to 13,000 km across the ocean.  In its lifetime the whaleshark can give birth to approximately  300 pups. Whalesharks have the thickest skin of all animals.

SAVING THESE GENTLE GIANTS
10 %  of the countries the whaleshark is known to visit have laws for protecting the whaleshark. This means that in many countries it is still legal to kill these harmless animals.  In asia you will find that whaleshark fins are sold at high prices to be on display at things like restaurants and weddings.

Despite some protection, whalesharks are still threatened in many parts of the world. To ensure the whalesharks future  is safe, governments need to facilitate and encourage:
- research programs to establish better understanding of movements and habits of these animals
- an international program to identify the survival of the species eg breeding habits
- a formal international agreement to protect whalesharks from fishing and other threats.

Australia is researching to find out why whale sharks come together each year in certain places for example Ningaloo. Reseach programs are also finding out general information e.g how deep whalesharks dive, with satellite tags.

More photos from Karajini

Here are some more photos from Karijini. Sorry it took so long to get them up.

Swimming With WHALE SHARKS!

Wow well it was an unforgettable experience. On friday morning we were at the jetty by 7:45am. By 8:00 we had been on a smaller boat that took us out to our boat that we would go to see the whale sharks on. When got about 700m away from shore we snorkled on the reef I was a little unsure at first but the I realised that instead of thinking about the bad things in the water I  thought I should look at the beautiful Marine Park. At 10:00 the spotter plane went up and that's when the fun started. When we found our first whale shark the water was too choppy to see the shark so we got back on the boat. The next time we had a bit more luck. When we got in the water the guide told us where the whale shark was and there it was right next to us. I was a bit frightened to see it right there. After we swam with it we got on the boat a bit over whelmed. We swam with four sharks and were wowed by the experience. Then we snorkled on the reef one last time. It was amazing.

Pilbara Mining - Mt Whaleback

Mount Whale Back Mining

Mining at Mount Whale Back is very profitable.  It is producing 600 train cars of iron ore a day, which could be increased. It is located in the Pilbara.

Pit Statistics

Mount Whale Back is currently 5.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. The mountain was originally 805 metres above sea level. The miners are currently mining down at 135 metres below sea level.  Each of the steps in the pit is 15 metre high.  These steps are called benches.

History

Iron ore was first discovered in Whale Back by Stan Hilditch (who turned a hill into a ditch LOL) in 1957 and mining started in 1967.

Railroad 

Mount Whale Back has the longest privately owned railroad in the southern hemisphere. It stretches 426 km from Newman to Port Headland.

Machinery

Machines are important in the mine. Mount Whale Back owns 22 of the 30 200 tonne Wabco ore trucks produced in the world. Tyres cost up to $30,000 and and last up to 12 months.

Where are the trucks?

Look at the picture of the trucks lined up waiting to be filled. Can you find these trucks in the photo of the main pit?

Karijini national park

We have just stayed in Karijini National Park. On the first day we went down to a gorge called Circular Pool, it was spectacular. We had met up with our friends the Lamonts the day before so we walked the track with them. For the next five days we walked all the gorges in the national park including Handrail Pool, Knox, Joffries, Weano, Dales, Hancock and Spa Pool. I enjoyed Joffries the best because we jumped from 8m high rocks into the gorge pool! By the time we had left Karijini we had walked every marked gorge in the national park. I will post more photos and videos of Karijini after we come back from Ningaloo.