Rafael de la Parra

I am a Mexican Marine Biologist trained in Mexico City and the Executive Director of Ch’ooj Ajauil, an NGO working to ensure a healthy, sustainable, and biologically diverse future for the coastal region in North Quintana Roo, Mexico. For the last 20 years, I led and coordinated whale shark research in the Mexican Caribbean. I also conducted aerial surveillance, tagged over 900 whale sharks, obtained over 50,000 photographs, biopsied more than 200 whale sharks, and constructed databases and image banks of these sharks. Contributed to over 40 papers published on whale sharks and submitted more than 5,800 encounters to the International Whale Shark Library. I have been responsible for regional training courses on "Habitat, Biology, Ecology, and Management of Whale Sharks" and conducting courses for local tour guides to prepare them for their accreditation. I consider myself very honored to participate in the 5 whale shark international conferences and collaborate with the Utila Whale Shark Research Group in Honduras for 13 years.

February 2023