For many years, the Maldives islands have been praised for its whale shark encounters and underwater beauty, which occurs throughout the atolls during most of the year which is not as in seasonal as those of the Seychelles nor Madagascar. Maldives has taken their first step in preceding a protected area for the whale sharks. The government-backed enthusiasm is being lifted by the biologists, diving professionals, travel agents and representatives of the local community.

This leading-edge move to organize and regulate is conducted by a group of local biologists those whom formed the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP). MWSRP has been investigating the populations and behavior of Whale Sharks in the Maldives from 2006 onwards. They have been using several technological equipments to track down these analysis, they use; Photo-identification, prey surveys and by taking part in an international genetic analysis and tagging project.

So far they have complied database of 100 individual whale sharks and has been tracking the movements of the Whale sharks around the atolls. As for improvement this group is investigating other whale shark hotspots across the Maldivian archipelago. So far they have discovered numerous spots, among them south Ari Atoll reef is a hotspot for whale sharks and it attracts boatful of divers and snorkelers on daily basis. For the long-term plan it is to establish an activity control for snorkeling and boat activities. The Whale sharks make their journey around the Maldives in order to find the seasonal meal, zooplankton.