The male whale shark "Fermin" feeds at a non-motorized boat in the Tan-awan feeding area in Oslob, the Philippines before his injury. Like other sharks who feed there regularly, Fermin sports calluses around his mouth from repeatedly bumping the boat.
A view from above of the whale shark Fermin shows the calluses caused by bumping against boats from which fishermen drop shrimp meals.
Between July 17 and July 19, Fermin encountered a motorized boat and came away with deep propeller cuts to his face. The placement of the cuts suggests he approached the boat in search of food.
An encounter with a motorized boat left the male whale shark Fermin with 11 gashes across his face.
The whale shark "Fermin" sports slashes from a run-in with a boat propeller. One cut runs across his left eye.
Fermin, before being injured by a boat propeller. The whale shark is a daily visitor to the Tan-awan whale shark feeding area, an ecotourism effort in Oslob in the Philippines.
Fermin is young and small for a whale shark, about 13 feet (4 meters) in length. Marine biologists are not yet sure whether his left eye will recover from his injury.
