Whale Sharks!
I went to Donsol, in the Phillippines, to swim with WHALE SHARKS!!!! I think it may have been one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. First, a whale shark is called 'butanding' in Tagalog. They're huge creatures that can measure 6-9m long. They only eat krill and plankton. They reproduce only about every 30 years, dropping 2-300 babies, and live to about 100. Crazy!
Here's what you do when you swim with them:
First, you show up at the tourist center and wait for enough people arrive to fill a boat - only 6. Then you watch an informational video (that was mostly a moot point- 85% of the things forbidden were done by the guides and tourists alike) and get your gear. Then you get on a boat with your crew. There are 4 Filipinos on the boat whose jobs are simply to look for the shadows of whale sharks. Then, when they spot one, they zoom towards it, shouting, 'get ready!" That's when all the tourists quickly don their masks/fins and perch on the edge of the boat. When its time (aka when you wont get cut up the propeller, which must be put in neutral), the man in charge yells "Now! Jump!" So you jump in, avoid swallowing water, avoid kicking feet and and the balance beams of the boat. Then you pick up your head, look for the shadow, or the guide, and swim like hell towards the whale.
There are 2 kinds of whales - shy ones and gentle ones. Tee shy ones usually dive deep after only a few seconds. The gentle ones stay on the surface and swim slowly enough that snorkelers are able to swim beside them. It's a crazy work out though!
The first day we weren't that lucky - took about 2 hours to spot the first one and then we only had 4-5 jumps. All the whales were shy ones. But it was still incredible, just to spot them. The next day (I HAD to try again!) we had luck after 45 minutes and then it was a frenzy of shark spotting. I almost wished the sharks would stop so I could get a breather! Unfortunately the visibility was quite low - only 2m. As a result, you couldn't see the whale until all of a sudden the mouth is coming right at you! I don't know how I managed it, but I was dead on to the mouth about 5 times. Each time I gave a shriek through my mask - it's startling every time! Then, you stare dazedly at it until you realize its leaving you behind. So you turn and, again trying to avoid kicking feet, try to swim after the shark. You're so close you can reach out and touch (don't) and twice I thought it's top fin was going to hit my stomach. I was very lucky a few times where I was in the perfect position to swim just behind the side fin - once for about 2 minutes!The whole time I was thinking ohmygodohmygodwowowowowow! That day we came back at 11- everyone was so tired and we'd had good success. And I have a few war wounds from flippers. The only thing is that I do wish the visibility had been better- I heard stories of 10-15m where you could see head, tail, and all underneath! So jealous!
Here's some videos:
1. This is the whole experience - feel the adrenaline! You can see that at the end, I get knocked out of the way, so that's the end of the video! I swam after him, but couldn't only see the tail.
2. This one is from the first day - not bad!
Here's what you do when you swim with them:
First, you show up at the tourist center and wait for enough people arrive to fill a boat - only 6. Then you watch an informational video (that was mostly a moot point- 85% of the things forbidden were done by the guides and tourists alike) and get your gear. Then you get on a boat with your crew. There are 4 Filipinos on the boat whose jobs are simply to look for the shadows of whale sharks. Then, when they spot one, they zoom towards it, shouting, 'get ready!" That's when all the tourists quickly don their masks/fins and perch on the edge of the boat. When its time (aka when you wont get cut up the propeller, which must be put in neutral), the man in charge yells "Now! Jump!" So you jump in, avoid swallowing water, avoid kicking feet and and the balance beams of the boat. Then you pick up your head, look for the shadow, or the guide, and swim like hell towards the whale.
There are 2 kinds of whales - shy ones and gentle ones. Tee shy ones usually dive deep after only a few seconds. The gentle ones stay on the surface and swim slowly enough that snorkelers are able to swim beside them. It's a crazy work out though!
The first day we weren't that lucky - took about 2 hours to spot the first one and then we only had 4-5 jumps. All the whales were shy ones. But it was still incredible, just to spot them. The next day (I HAD to try again!) we had luck after 45 minutes and then it was a frenzy of shark spotting. I almost wished the sharks would stop so I could get a breather! Unfortunately the visibility was quite low - only 2m. As a result, you couldn't see the whale until all of a sudden the mouth is coming right at you! I don't know how I managed it, but I was dead on to the mouth about 5 times. Each time I gave a shriek through my mask - it's startling every time! Then, you stare dazedly at it until you realize its leaving you behind. So you turn and, again trying to avoid kicking feet, try to swim after the shark. You're so close you can reach out and touch (don't) and twice I thought it's top fin was going to hit my stomach. I was very lucky a few times where I was in the perfect position to swim just behind the side fin - once for about 2 minutes!The whole time I was thinking ohmygodohmygodwowowowowow! That day we came back at 11- everyone was so tired and we'd had good success. And I have a few war wounds from flippers. The only thing is that I do wish the visibility had been better- I heard stories of 10-15m where you could see head, tail, and all underneath! So jealous!
Here's some videos:
1. This is the whole experience - feel the adrenaline! You can see that at the end, I get knocked out of the way, so that's the end of the video! I swam after him, but couldn't only see the tail.
2. This one is from the first day - not bad!
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