Since the 1998 Keta has been contributed to independent shark research and education.

Keta continues to support many research efforts working as a collective publishing data on worldwide shark encounters, behavior observations and photographic collections.

The Tuck and Roll is a collective of biologist, environmental groups, independent researchers, educators and filmmakers working along side to help bridge the gaps in shark and marine research.

If you are interested in contributing email us here with questions or comments.

Myth or Legend?

Tuck and Roll is the procedure developed by the Whale Shark Hunters of the Philippines to escape from the belly of a giant whale shark.

To kill a whale shark, the hunters would dive with a large hand held harpoon stabbing 50-foot whale sharks between their eyes.

A second  free diver would enter the water and cut a large hole in the upper lip of the shark. Threading a thick rope through the sharks mouth and towing the shark to shallow water.

The shark was kept alive for freshness. An illegal exporter and distributor of shark fins and rare whale shark meat then determined the price for the catch.

If the  free divers had trouble harpooning the shark or cutting the hole for the towrope; they risked being ingested by the huge sharks.

To escape the mouth or avoid being swallowed, the whale shark hunters developed the “tuck and roll” technique which allowed them to be ejected without being decapitated or losing a limb.

The Whale Shark Hunters of the Philippines no longer kill whale sharks for their fins.

Some former hunters are now part of the World Wildlife Foundation. They assist in tagging and photo ID projects that help with research efforts to understand the migration of whale sharks migrating through the Bohol Sea.

To buy the film The Whale Shark Hunters Starring William Shatner, click here.

Many of the photos on this site are from the days when the hunters still killed whale sharks. They are reminders that some countries still mine their whale sharks.