The government has unveiled plans to make an addition to the famous Big Five game animals that consists of the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant, and the buffalo.
According to the Standard, a proposal that is currently under review is likely to see the list turn to the Big Six, with the Whale Shark being the latest addition to the list.
Volker Bassen, a diver and the founder of the East African Whale Shark Trust (EAWST) revealed that the plan is at an advanced stage.
The EAWST also indicated that Kenya is currently the only country in the world that can boast of the Big six.
National Geographic defines the whale shark as the largest shark in the ocean, growing to a maximum of 20 meters long and weighing over 10 tonnes.
Interestingly, the whale shark is completely harmless and feeds by sieving plankton and small fish when swimming through the water hence earning it the name gentle giant.
"It is a wildlife experience of a lifetime, nothing beats being in the water next to one of these leviathans, it’s like being thrown back 200 million years in time, Jurassic Park! These sharks existed 200 million years before the dinosaurs," Bassen was quoted.
For 18 consecutive years, Bassen and his team have been running a whale shark research expedition in Diani, Kwale County.
Members of the public can join the rare sighting of the Whale Shark off Diani Beach at the cost of Kshs 12,000 per person with daily expeditions between February and March 7.
