By Stephen Beech

Four out of five endangered whale sharks spotted at a marine tourism hotspot had "human-caused" scars, reveals new research.

Conservationists found that 80.6% of the largest living fish species seen off Indonesian Papua in the Pacific exhibited injuries that were attributed to human-made causes.

Whale sharks are officially

Over the past 75 years, whale shark populations have de

Because the species take up to 30 years to become sexually mature, scientists say populations can only recover slowly from threats, in

Now, an international research team has shown that in the Bird’s Head Seascape off Indonesian West Papua, 62% of whale sharks have scars and injuries from preventable human causes.

But they say that simple interventions could "greatly lessen" that burden

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