We were looked after by a crew of 4 young people plus a young lady skipper. Once we left the mooring they took us to a spot some way offshore, but still inside the reef, so we could get our snorkelling gear sorted out and have a good look at the reef as well.
Once everyone was back on board we steamed through north passage, a gap in the reef, into the Indian Ocean were we were greeted with a decent swell which made the boat really rock and roll. The spotter plane took to the air around 10am to see if there were any Whale Sharks around but couldn't find a single one. We steamed South expecting the big fish to show themselves but all we saw was Humpback Whales.
The whales were very impressive, blowing water out the top and moving gently in top layer of water. We saw mothers with their calves and one of them even did a breech just in front of our boat.
A sudden urgency arose amongst the crew and we knew a Whale Shark had been spotted. The skipper put the throttle down and made the boat go so we could get to the Whale Shark before it disappeared. Whale Sharks are the largest fish in the ocean and can dive to a depth of 1600mt. They come up and swim just below the surface but then dive down again and disappear into the dark depth of the Indian Ocean.
The second picture in this blog will give you an idea how far off shore these snorkelling activities took place - click on the picture to see the larger version and you'll see us snorkelling. My GPS log recording tells me we were 4km off shore.
The way this Whale Shark snorkelling works is quite impressive. The skipper manoeuvres the boat into position while 10 snorkelers are ready at the back of the boat. When the skipper is in the right spot the snorkelers jump of the back of the moving vessel and wait for the Whale Shark to come towards them. Once along the side of these wonderful creatures the snorkelers swim along with the big fish. There are strict rules about how long a group can swim with a Whale Shark. One must stay at lease 3mt clear at all times.
However, this particular Whale Shark, a young male, was very inquisitive and kept swimming in circles. As we entered the water I could not see the Whale Shark at all until one of the dive masters started waving his arms trying to tell me something. With the restricted vision of goggles there is no peripheral vision and I could only see straight ahead, but as I turned my head to right, I was looking the Whale Shark straight in the eye as it was just about to T-bone me, only a couple of meters away.
Just as well these animals are moving through the water very gently and gracefully. I certainly wasn't going to argue with a creature twice my size and more than 20 times my weight, so I got out of his way quick smart and then tried to swim along beside him but this young fella was very curious about us snorkelers and kept turning towards us. It was very hard to try and stay 3mt away from this Whale Shark.
This particular animal was 4-5mt long and was surrounded by about a dozen other fish travelling with him. Some Remora's, a Cobia and numerous other small species.
After a few minutes in the water with the Whale Shark we were back on board and really pumped - what a great experience. We went back into the water another two times and by the end of that most people where exhausted. Particularly after the last snorkel as the Whale Shark was moving in a straight line and, although his fins where hardly moving, at quite a speed where most people fell behind. With a bit of effort and some freestyle added to the fins I just managed to keep up with him. As an additional bonus we saw a turtle swimming below the Whale Shark.
To finish off the day pulled up back inside the reef (no swell) and had lunch before going for another snorkel on the reef. This time we swam with a turtle but only while she was going slow, once in top gear there is no way of keeping up with a Turtle.
There is not a lot known about Whale Sharks and they can't survive in captivity so all the study must be done in their natural habitat, the Ocean. All Whale Sharks have an individual pattern and anyone can email their photos to the researchers who identify the individual Whale Shark and then track their progress. Even the tourist boats take part in this research by logging each contact with length, photo and gender information.
We've had another great day in this fascinating underwater world they call the Ningaloo Reef.
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