On October 20, 2020, Dr. Jennifer Schmidt, Director of Research at the Shark Research Institute, reported that an ecological disaster is taking place in Djibouti. Dr. Schmidt and her colleagues have been conducting research on Djibouti's juvenile whale sharks for nearly a decade. In addition to this stranded whale shark, several cetaceans, sea turtles and fishes have been found dead. Most of the recent deaths occurred near Djibouti City. While cause of the disaster is not yet known samples from the whale shark have been taken for toxicology analysis.

"Djibouti represents an important hotspot of biodiversity that hosts several rare and endangered species," says Dr. Schmidt." This area needs to be prioritized for marine protection."