This World Oceans Day, we reflect on how the Philippines is reimagining marine wildlife tourism
The 2026 theme, “Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean,” calls for a shift in how we relate to the ocean - from resource users to active stewards. It highlights the need to bridge the growing disconnect between society and the marine world.
Read MoreLAMAVE and the Philippines Siren team up for sharks
This January we (LAMAVE) teamed up for a third time with Worldwide Dive and Sail to bring an exclusive trip around the Visayas, Philippines. This trip was designed to visit Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE) project site in Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte, and sites where marine megafauna abound in Cebu, Bohol and Leyte islands…
Read MoreLAMAVE’s position on emerging whale shark tourism in Bohol
Whale shark tourism activities have emerged from Lila and Baclayon, Bohol where whale sharks are or were provisioned to facilitate tourism interactions. In line with the Philippines commitment to lead and promote sustainable tourism across South East Asia (UNEP/CMS/CoP12/doc.26.2.7), as well as the Vision and Mission of the Province of Bohol, where the province is an eco-cultural tourism destination committed to sound environmental management, LAMAVE does not support these initiatives.
Read MoreWhale sharks: what science reveals
We round up eight years of LAMAVE’s research on the iconic whale shark. The whale shark – also called butanding, tuki, tiki tiki, tawiki in local dialects - is a national icon of the Philippines. As we reach the end of 2019 and almost 8 years since LAMAVE first started studying whale sharks in the Philippines, we round up what we have learnt about these incredible sharks…
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