Rarely caught by the shark fisheries in Veracruz and Quintana Roo (Ref. 13186). Reportedly abundant in Cabo San Lucas to Acapulco (FIGIS 09/2003). In May 2002, the government enacted legislation to fully protect the species from fishing (Ref. 48672). A whale shark sanctuary under consideration for Bahia Los Angeles, Gulf of California (Ref. 48696). Aggregation occurs annually north of Cabo Catoche, off Isla Holbox on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. In 2009, 2009, at the eastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea, the largest aggregation of whale sharks was reported, with up to 420 whale sharks observed in a single aerial survey, all gathered in an elliptical patch of ocean approximately 18 sq. km (Ref. 86852). Also Ref. 43278.