For the most part, the sea just offshore in northern Qatar looks ordinary. The azure waters are calm, small waves lapping at the surface breaking up the glass-like facade. Ordinary. Normal. Until it isn’t. Then dorsal fins begin to appear. One becomes 10, which then become dozens. Soon there are hundreds of massive spotted bodies moving just beneath the surface, mouths open, filtering clouds of fish eggs and other microscopic nutrients from the water.

Every summer, whale sharks arrive here to feed on tuna eggs concentrated by regional ocean currents and cyclonic eddies, which act like invisible funnels that gather microscopic food into dense patches that make the area unusually productive. The whale sharks know of this yearly buffet, so hundreds of individuals congregate in the Al Shaheen region from April through September in one of the largest seasonal gatherings of endangered whale sharks anywhere on the planet.

The largest fish in the ocean, their distinctive pattern of pale spots and stripes is unique to each individual, much like a fingerprint, allowing scientists to track them over time and across oceans. Despite their size and global distribution in tropical and warm temperate waters, whale sharks are classified as endangered due to threats such as ship strikes, fishing pressure, habitat disturbance and pollution. Because they grow slowly and reproduce later in life, the protection of key feeding areas where they gather in large numbers is especially important for the long-term survival of the species. In 2023, researchers documented around 600 whale sharks in this region at peak aggregation. A higher number than this has yet to be documented anywhere else in the world, making northern Qatar not only one of the most significant whale shark feeding sites known globally but an essential habitat for them.

Many people flock worldwide to this location to catch a glimpse of these docile predators, or even perhaps swim among them. But that won’t be happening this year due to maritime risk in the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding Gulf region having risen sharply in recent months. With confirmed strikes on commercial vessels, port disruptions and increasing navigation interference, it’s created instability across waters that sit uncomfortably close to one of the most important feeding grounds for a species that is trying to come back from the brink of extinction. Because what else concentrates in water shaped by those same currents? Pollution, which can behave a lot like tuna eggs. If an oil spill, industrial discharge or conflict-related contamination enters these waters, the same oceanographic conditions that gather food for whale sharks could also gather toxins. Instead of a buffet, the sharks could encounter a hotspot of exposure. Instead of supporting survival, the environment could amplify risk.

So what happens if the tuna eggs decline? Would the whale sharks stop coming altogether or would they shift to other feeding grounds that are already crowded or degraded? “Whale sharks are exceptionally good at finding and exploiting food. Their movements are strongly driven by feeding opportunities, whether those are natural seasonal blooms or, in some cases, human-influenced systems," explains Dr. Gonzalo Araujo, founder and director of Marine Research and Conservation Foundation and a associate researcher at Qatar University. “A decline in tuna spawning in this region wouldn’t necessarily mean the complete absence of food, but it could indicate that better feeding opportunities exist elsewhere.”

“In that case, whale sharks would likely shift their distribution rather than remain in a suboptimal environment," Araujo adds. “That movement could be local — offshore, deeper in the water column, or even at different times of day — or it could involve larger-scale relocation to other aggregation sites. If military activity in the Gulf disrupts tuna spawning or the oceanographic conditions that support it, the effects on whale sharks would be indirect but significant. Given how responsive they are to feeding conditions, there is a real possibility they would leave the area — potentially for extended periods.” The greater concern, however, is not just whether they leave the area, but whether they are pushed to feed in degraded or polluted environments.

There is a lot we do not know about how animals respond to conflict of this magnitude. What we do know is that whale sharks show strong site fidelity in many parts of the world. And when conditions change quickly, animals that rely on predictable feeding events often struggle to adapt. A single disrupted season may not cause visible collapse but several in a row could. "We know from Qatar and other aggregation sites globally that individuals return to the same feeding areas over many years. So if conditions stabilise and the ecological drivers — particularly prey availability — remain intact, there is reason to expect that whale sharks would return even after disturbance. If multiple seasons are affected, that could begin to erode the reliability of this aggregation site," says Araujo. He points out that prior to the current conflict, the primary threats to whale sharks in the region were vessel strikes and fisheries interactions, both targeted and incidental. The Strait of Hormuz, for instance, has long been one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, with numerous large vessels moving at high speeds. Encounters with ships of this scale are highly likely to be fatal for whale sharks and other surface-dwelling marine megafauna.

While it’s easy to associate whale shark conservation with snorkelers in clear tropical water, some of the species’ most important habitats sit beside shipping lanes, drilling platforms and industrial corridors. The northern Qatar aggregation is a reminder that endangered species conservation does not happen only in remote marine sanctuaries. It happens in the middle of our war zones.

“At present, there are no specific mitigation measures in place targeting whale sharks in response to the current situation. The most effective action, from an ecological perspective, is de-escalation. Reducing the risk of further environmental damage is critical,” concludes Araujo. “The Arabian Gulf supports an extraordinary range of marine life, including the largest known aggregation of whale sharks globally and one of the largest remaining populations of critically endangered dugongs. Protecting these systems ultimately depends on maintaining environmental stability.”