Isla Mujeres whale shark season?

[mediumone]

But for anyone who has been out on a busy day, don't you find it a little sad? Lots of little boats swarming all the gentle whale sharks trying to eat their tuna eggs? Most had cuts in their dorsal fins. One poor fella looked like he has a pompom on his back, with fin cut so many times it was just strips of fin. I even saw one come by that looked to have just taken a dorsal hit, fresh and red. I don't mean to say the boats aren't careful, but when you drive through a group of WS on the surface it is going to happen. So while I was amazed to be so close to the whales, I felt a little sad too.

Reading this ruined my evening. Sad, indeed.

I didn't know. I alluded to my regrets in life, and another that I'd forgotten about when I posted, was taking the family to Sea World. Since that time, I've learned about Dolphins in captivity, i.e., their mortality rate and life expectancy in captivity, and that they swim up to 50 miles per day in the wild, and somewhat less in captivity.

It's worth it to fly down for a long weekend, just to swim with the Dominoes.

Wait, you're at the edge of the continent. It's difficult to get to the Yucatan from there. Sorry...

Yes, we fly out of Portland, Oregon, a fairly small airport, with little competition. We can plan on $625.00 +/-, and 7 1/2 - 10 hours, (7 1/2 is the minimum), so a long weekend in QRoo isn't a conversation that we have.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Don't be sad. Dive with them in Belize instead!! This May there's a liveaboard being run be Splash Divers out of Placencia that's going to do the best of Belize dive sites, followed by a few days of whale shark dives. Absolutely thrilling! No, it's not the congested guarantee of five minute relays of snorkeling with the massive conglomeration of sharks, boats and people found at IM. FOR ME, though there were other divers with me yes, it was still an intimate experience bring at 70'+ and watching one rise up out of the gloom towards the surface, or another that passed within a foot of me at around 50'. I saw whale sharks on every one of my dives.

 

[mediumone]

Don't be sad. Dive with them in Belize instead!! This May there's a liveaboard being run be Splash Divers out of Placencia that's going to do the best of Belize dive sites, followed by a few days of whale shark dives. Absolutely thrilling! No, it's not the congested guarantee of five minute relays of snorkeling with the massive conglomeration of sharks, boats and people found at IM. FOR ME, though there were other divers with me yes, it was still an intimate experience bring at 70'+ and watching one rise up out of the gloom towards the surface, or another that passed within a foot of me at around 50'. I saw whale sharks on every one of my dives.

That sounds so much more agreeable. Thanks for your post. I'm being lazy ---- when is whale shark season for Belize?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Just before, during and a few more days after the full moon in the months of March thru June, with April and May being most ideal.

 

[cvchief]

I *might* have exaggerated a bit with 'most'. I strolled through my photos again and maybe 'most' was too strong a word, but a fair number seemed to have cuts on the dorsal fins.

They are fascinating creatures though. As I said it was like Grand Central while we where there. I also noticed that they seem smaller in person than the pics you see, even my pics make them look bigger. And with a crowd of snorkelers, they are so tolerant. They just come trucking by eating the tuna eggs and if a person gets too close, they gently adjust course to avoid them. I did have one turning whose tail swished a few feet in front of my face. It felt like a brief sandblasting as the blast of water and eggs rolled over me. Just amazed me the whale sharks are so calm as to go about their business in the midst of 100-200? snorkelers without a care except avoiding hitting one. And the same animal would come back through again and again.

 

[JFS]

I have done a lot of whale shark trips and have seen and photographed thousands of whalesharks. I have only witnessed a few with visible scars. There are very strict regulations regarding speeds in the whale shark area hence the official permits that are issued. This year there was a lot less illegal boats in the area due to more enforcement. The whale sharks travel thousands of miles and could be hit by boats anywhere not just in tour based areas.