“A couple of corporate houses also approached me and I joined their efforts.” Besides the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Trust of India, Tata Chemicals and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals have also joined the campaign to save the rare breed.

“Morari Bapu being a respected spiritual leader, his word has provided us a positive inputs in the campaign to save the whale shark,” said Pradeep Khanna, chief conservator of forest (wildlife).

The holy man’s words have indeed tamed greed. The powerful Kharwa community, which dint care for the laws, has also fallen in line. “We used to get good money but after the ban and with Morari Bapu appealing, most fishermen have stopped catching that fish,” said Narsinh Dholki, president of the Kharwa Association. The Kharwas worship whales, which are mammals, as an incarnation of Lord Hanuman but since the whale shark is classified as a fish they have been hunting it without religious qualms.

Several fishermen who cut their nets that often costs up to Rs 10,000 to release trapped whale sharks have been felicitated by Morari Bapu on several occasions.

However, it’s not all faithful submission. During a bad season, tempers flare in the fishing communities. “Morari Bapu’s preachings are fine but we are becoming poorer by the day,” says Laxmansinh Ramsinh, the Veraval Boat Association leader.

He says it is just a matter of time before fishermen’s patience runs out and they start illegally killing the shark whale again. But the religious leader has his own plans to up the campaign: he is holding a public meeting in Veraval on February 17 to campaign against the killing of the whale shark.