Give me your best science for seeing Whale sharks...

[underwater5]

We will be down in Placencia (or surrounding area - possibly thatch caye)at end of May and our sole purpose is to see whale sharks. Well we will do wall diving as well, but we must see whale sharks!! So I know several people have talked about 2 days before the full moon, or start 3 days after the FM, try diving later in the day etc.
I want to know what has worked for people and what is the best science to seeing them.
I have also heard about the lottery and that some dive boats get later slots and this may give you a better chance of spotting - true??

please share your thoughts with much detail

 

[vladimir]

The best science for seeing them is probably the spotter planes they employ in Ningaloo, Australia. That probably won't help you on your trip to Placencia, though. I hate to focus any dive trip on one single thing--too much potential for disappointment. I have seen them in a few places, but never while looking for them. Good luck!

 

[diversteve]

Here are the dates from 2/3 diveops in Placencia (Avadon hasn't updated their website yet):

Belize Scuba Diving & Snorkeling in Placencia | Seahorse Dive Shop

Whale shark packages 2010 - Splash Dive

The Cubera and Snapper spawn later in the afternoon/early evening so conventional wisdom suggests that's a better time. Isla Marisol has a PM slot for that reason. Otoh, one of the people involved with Splash Dive has seen them in the mornings.

My experience last spring in Utila was that it appeared that they stayed deep when it was flat calm and surfaced when it there was a little wave action. My theory (I'm no expert) was that stirring up the water slightly caused the plankton etc. to be on the surface. I did a research trip thru the Shark Research Institute to Deep Blue during one of their research weeks. (last week of March) We saw 6 in two days then the rest of the week was a bust. Every time we saw one there was a boil nearby where fish were feeding on the smaller stuff. The Whale Sharks would just come up and cruise through it and then dive for 10-15 mins. or so b4 surfacing again. Once we saw one vertically feeding just below the surface - that's supposed to be somewhat rare.

It's currently being discussed on p2 here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/belize/321200-dive-operators-hopkins-belize.html

We also targeted the last week of May this year to do that in Belize this year - until Explorer cut their T&C trip by $500.

My reasoning was that since the "season" runs Feb-May in Utila, they might be migrating thru Belize around that timeframe - but that's just a guess. This year the optimum research weeks at Deep Blue end by late April. Also we didn't want to go the end of June as that seems less likely the closer you get to the end of the season.

hth,

 

[Ralph Capeling]

I have seen whale sharks on 9 of 11 whale shark dives. Most of my sightings have been in the morning in spite of conventional wisdom about late afternoon dives. I was 9 out of 10 until last year when I did an afternoon dive for whale sharks!!!! Splash Dive Shop in Placencia has a very good record with whale sharks but that probably relates more to people and modus operandi than to the the "science".

 

[underwater5]

thanks diversteve! We just hope to be able to see a few WS's and do some other diving at Glovers and then some fun inland stuff. We have been on TCE and really enjoyed the diving...great walls, great vis. You should really have fun on that trip and the boat is really nice!
that is a great shot you have, did you take that at Deep Blue?
Anyway we will keep reading and researching and hope to one day be able to see Mr. Big.

 

[underwater5]

I have seen whale sharks on 9 of 11 whale shark dives. Most of my sightings have been in the morning in spite of conventional wisdom about late afternoon dives. I was 9 out of 10 until last year when I did an afternoon dive for whale sharks!!!! Splash Dive Shop in Placencia has a very good record with whale sharks but that probably relates more to people and modus operandi than to the the "science".

thanks ralph, I was just reading about you and your track record on another thread.I guess we don't have to worry too much about AM vs. PM after your experience.
did you do all of your WS dives with Splash? and how many days before/after the FM did you do them?

 

[Ralph Capeling]

I did most of the original dives using my own private boat before I became an investor in Splash. Because only tour operators get time slots, others, like me at that time, would go earlier in the day before the tour operators had their slots or if I knew one of the tour operators was not using a slot, then I could use theirs - but normally it was like around 10:00 when we jumped in the water. For later time slots, I found that some of the tour operators which had less completed instrumentation would follow my private boat so as to locate the snapper. I now do most of my dives with Splash and they have a very good success rate. I don't recall timing for those dives (whether early or late compared to the full moon) but it seems that while it is certain whale sharks will be there during that time, it is not completely consistent whether they will be there earlier or later in the time period.

 

[fbosch]

I am planning on going to placentia and /or thatch caye resort (I was told this is closer and they go in the afternoons) the week of april 25 to see whale sharks at gladden spit and wondered if anyone can recommend one over the other i.e dive operators hotels etc. So much to choose from.
Some packages include the flight from Belize city (thatch does not) Agressor looks like a great idea but pricey (would bring the overall price up 1k so it is not looking likley.

 

[diversteve]

Agressor looks like a great idea but pricey (would bring the overall price up 1k so it is not looking likley.

It's not a great idea if you want to see Whale Sharks as they don't sail anywhere near Gladden Spit.

Every Saturday, the luxurious Belize Aggressor III casts off from Belize City for a week of hassle-free wall diving at Turneffe and Lighthouse Reefs.

Neither does Sundancer II (I called Hughes) btw, if you're just looking to dive Belize on a LOB, Hughes is $1895 - $2005 w/fees.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

I recommend Splash Dive Shop, but then again that is to be expected as I am an investor in Splash. Splash has a good record for finding whale sharks - a lot of that success relates to our divemasters. Our current dive boat was recently refurbished and has new engines. We have a second custom dive boat on order that should begin operating later this month. We have a well maintained new state of the art air compressor with all the appropriate filter systems, most of our equipment is new and our older equipment is well maintained and we take no short cuts.