In 2013 Typhoon Haiyan caused widespread destruction in the Philippines, hitting Malapascua Island
especially hard.
While no lives were lost, livelihoods were destroyed.
It was the thresher sharks and the draw for divers to catch a glimpse of one of the most
vulnerable open ocean shark species that allowed the island to prosper again.
While thresher populations have declined more than 70% worldwide, Malapascua and nearby
seamount Monad shoal are famous for daily visits from thresher sharks.
Monad shoal is a very important habitat for the thresher shark.
They come close to shore, close to the seamount to get cleaned.
And that’s a very important relationship that they have with the cleaner wrasse and
the moon wrasse and many other species of fishes.
So a place like Monad Shoal is fundamental for their health.
Malapascua is most famous for the thresher shark and divers from all over the world go
to Malapascua just to see these sharks because it’s the only place in the world they can
be seen almost every day.
It’s incredible how much of the lives of people are related to the threshers.
You can see it when you walk there, you can see it in paintings, you can see it in murals,
you can see it as logos of almost every dive shop.
It’s really something that they take pride in.
I learned how to make wooden thresher sharks.
I think thresher shark important here in Malapascua because it brings a lot of work to people
here.
It’s good business for me because lots of foreigners do dive and if they see a shark,
they buy wooden shark as a souvenir from here.
For me thresher sharks are a gift to Malapascua.
We’ve been doing our best to protect the thresher sharks.
It’s a constant threat when there are commercial fishing boats fishing nearby.
We’ve managed to organize a group of men to patrol Monad Shoal and we call them “migo
sa iho” or friends of sharks.
They are patrolling monad shoal 24/7 just to shoo away the illegal fishermen.
Working around the Philippines you very often come across thresher shark meat in the market.
The meat is used locally with a very low market value - less than a dollar per kilo in many
places.
The economic value of the live animal here is much higher than a dead one in the market.
While thresher meat is consumed locally in the Philippines, the fins are often exported.
The demand in the international shark fin trade and the lack of adequate management
of catch has led to huge declines.
If unchecked the very sharks that sustain this ecotourism will disappear forever.
The Philippines is in a unique position to advocate for the protection of thresher sharks
globally because of the tourism value it has in Daanbantayan.
It’s just amazing how much of the economy of the municipality is hinged on protecting
these sharks and showing these sharks to tourists that go there.
This year, at CITES COP 17 in South Africa the worlds Governments will debate whether
to grant thresher sharks the global protections they need.
These sharks are worth more alive than dead, and hopefully the Philippines, and all of
the other CITES Governments will join forces to properly protect them.