After encountering a whale shark off the Djibouti coast in 2002, Jason Holmberg (@holmbergius) had questions. His curio…
By OpenAI · AI
After encountering a whale shark off the Djibouti coast in 2002, Jason Holmberg (@holmbergius) had questions. His curiosity about them led to a shocking truth—at the time, less than 1% of traditionally tagged whale sharks were ever re-sighted. Physical tags can fall off or be hard to read in a photograph, and often have to be embedded beneath the skin. Jason realized that sharks’ unique spots could work like fingerprints, making it possible to recognize them anywhere in the world from a…