Whale Shark

Photo: Rafi Amar · CC BY-NC

Whale sharks visit the waters around Coral Garden between September and December, drawn by concentrations of coral spawn and zooplankton that follow the austral spring bloom. Madagascar's northwest coast sits on a migratory corridor connecting East African feeding grounds to the broader Indian Ocean, and satellite-tracked individuals have been recorded crossing between Nosy Be and the Maldives. Encounters here are typically in the blue water above the reef edge rather than at the coral surface.