1-23-10 Whale Sharks

Saturday Jesse and I went in to spend an obscene amount of time on the Internet at a cafe. Saw Marv and Ardy on Odyssey and they had the great idea to go sharking, to find the whale sharks we were hearing about. So scrapping the Internet idea I went with them to borrow Patsy's metal dinghy for this impromptu adventure. I had no camera other than the Iphone, no swimsuit, no snorkel, mask, or fins. Life happens whether you're ready or not so just grip it and rip it. (Favorite golf saying)

We went to Ladybug, a sailboat anchored in the bay, to find Ronie and Chris, friends of Marv and Ardy. We sang "A sharking we will go" after finding them and gathering them into the dinghy. About 5 miles down the beach Ronie spotted the shark's dorsal fins. There were three sharks at first and we followed the largest which was about 25+ feet.

This is the best photo so I'll put it first.

Here's Ronie from Ladybug swimming after the shark. She stripped down to skivvies and went in. She is the last swimmer pictured and the shark's tail is directly in front of her. It just appears as a dark area here and it's head runs out of the frame at the left. Gives you an idea of how big it is. By the way, whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean and eat plants only. The next one to go in was Chris. About then the tourist boat near us lent us a mask! Send out the "need" vibe and ye shall receive. :)

See if you can spot the fin in this one.

By then I had decided I needed to figure out how to improvise a "swimsuit." I had inappropriate skivvies for the task. So I went in in my bra and silk skirt (mind you I needed to wear something that day that did not bind on my bruised and battered legs (boat bites) and was planning on having an Internet day). But I was not about to miss this.

We were taking turns jumping near the path of the shark because we lacked fins and we could not keep up with it swimming. So I jumped and everybody yelled, "Dive Shanna!" So I slapped the mask on and went down just under the surface and came face to face with the shark just a foot away. I was tempted to touch it's face but I did not want to break the laws protecting them, cause it distress, or worse I was afraid that like sea turtles I might cause an illness in the creature from the oils on my hands.

So I came up wide eyed and yelled, "WOW!" Then I dove again to see its long wide body swimming by! The spots and stripes were beautiful and the great fish had smaller yellow fish swimming by it's mouth. It is incredible to be so close to something so huge and peaceful. I can't find words to do the experience justice.

Marv and Ardy looking back at Ronie and a tourist near the largest whale shark.

Ardy was the last to go in and although she looked to be 6 feet away from it, it's fin was actually close enough to touch as they are so wide (and flat).

What an amazing memory! Next time I will insist Jesse come along!

If I get some photos from Ardy's camera I will add them later.