TOURISTS fascinated with the mysterious whale shark are helping researchers on Western Australia's pristine Ningaloo coast uncover the sea giants' secrets and prove that their numbers are on the rise.

In a collaborative research project that encourages “citizen science”, tourists who dive with the massive sharks are taking photos of the mammals' unique spots, which are similar to a human's fingerprint, The Australian reports.

Murdoch University marine biologist Brad Norman said the pictures were then uploaded to an online database and the sharks were identified as part of the Ecocean whale shark project.

He said the research had found that the shark's numbers were increasing modestly and Western Australia was proving to be a "shining light" in protecting the gentle giants.

”This photo-identity program engages and encourages tourists to play an active role in helping to monitor and understand a wild animal,” Mr Norman said.

So far the project has found that about 150 whale sharks visit Ningaloo each year and more than 500 have been to the area since the project began in 1995.

”It's a really good example of citizen science, where potentially thousands of members of the public can become research assistants by simply taking a photo of a whale shark while they're swimming alongside and then submitting it to the global identity database,” he said.

The project also provided an insight into the secretive world of whale shark, which remains a mystery partly because of its ability to swim deep at sea.

Mr Norman said they had discovered that most of the sharks visiting Ningaloo were young males. Some never returned to the area but others came back to Ningaloo over the years.

”We are still in the early stages,” he said. “We're really breaking some new ground but these are very cryptic species. They live deep, they can dive down to at least 1500m.

Tourist operator and director of Coral Bay Adventures Marnie Hunt said that, for tourists, the project added to the experience of swimming with the sharks.

”It gives them a real experience... they get to become part of the whale shark's survival,” she said.

Mr Norman warned that, despite numbers increasing slightly in Western Australia, the whale shark was under serious threat around the world, with some countries still hunting the animal.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25441962-5012674,00.html