India’s NDTV recently ran the feature above on Gujarat’s campaign to save whale sharks(Rhincodon typus). Fishermen who once viewed the the whale shark as a lucrative catch are now putting their efforts towards conservation of species. According to NDTV, the government has now placed a ban on killing the species, and fishermen who have to cut nets to release whale sharks are compensated for their financial losses.

The change in perspective about the species was brought on, in part, by a religious appeal to the fishermen. A Gujarat spiritual leader compared migrating whale sharks to daughters returning to their families after a journey. He encouraged local fishermen to welcome the species rather than kill them, and the fishermen have responded to the appeal.