Placencia Whale Shark Season 2011 - Updates on sightings please

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Downing the dive is still really great even if the Whales Sharks dont show up you will still see thousands of Snappers there will be predatory fish such as Bull Sharks reef sharks and Dolphins so even though you might not see a Whale Shark the dive is still really good.

Gaz Cooper
 
I have been as busy as the one armed paper hanger over the past couple of days as in addition to having 5 boats out some days, Patty and I have family visiting for Easter so didn't get back to my computer until this morning (while waiting for family to shower before heading out to the airport).
Coraldream - at Splash we can do the photos for you and we have an underwater video camera so can do both for you if you give us a bit of notice. If you want to do any of your own, let us know that too as there are some specific regulations on photography in the whale shark zone - mainly related to use of flash.
Downing, when we do whale shark dives we normally do two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and if we don't see whale sharks in the am, we try again in the pm. Before I went into the diving business, I used to go out in my own boat and as I was not a tour operator, I would go early in the morning before the time slots controlled what boats could go into the whale shark zone. I saw whale sharks almost every time. The time slots are in the afternoon as conventional wisdom is that you are more likely to see them in the afternoon and later in the afternoon is better. My personal experience suggests that conventional wisdom is not too reliable, but the people who hold that view have a lot more experience with whale sharks than I do. We encourage people to come prepared to dive other sites and then monitor what is happening with whale sharks so as to maximize the chance of seeing whale sharks. If we get indications that are coming earlier or later, then we offer other dives to maximize the Belize experience.
Yesterday, Saturday the 23rd, the Splash tour saw 4 whale sharks, the day before they saw 5. We have a trip going out today.
Regards
Ralph
 
Just got back from Placencia on 4/23. Did two days at Gladden Spit. Saw two on 4/19 and two on 4/20. The first one on 4/19 was around 35' and came right through our group at about 50'. The smaller one followed us to the surface and was almost within touching range. The ones on day two were deeper and we only got a view from above, but had at least 7 sightings. Still VERY impressive. We stayed at Robert's Grove and dove from their 48' boat. We were glad to have a large platform since the swells were 8-10 feet. We also did seven nice reef dives. GREAT trip and an unforgettable experience.
 
Today April 24 Splash Tours saw 9 or 10 whale sharks. On the second dive they came in very close. Several of them surfaced so the snorkelers got a great look. When we get a spare moment, will try to post some photos.
Regards
Ralph
 
Sounds like quite a few sighting now, I can't wait to see the photos.

It would also be nice if you could submit your photos to Ecocean for whaleshark identification to study their migration pattern. They have successfully identified a couple of my whaleshark sightings.

ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library
 
Elletek, will post the photos with Ecoocean (have done so in the past) but it will be a few days before I get to that.
No boats went to the whale shark zone yesterday Monday April 25 (most visitors seem to leave on Sundays). We have a trip today so will report on results.
Regards
Ralph
 
We are counting down the days before we leave for Belize (17 days) and the days before we go whale shark diving (23 days) and all the news of sightings is very encouraging. Keep them coming!

Ralph - both my boyfriend and I will be brining lots of photography equipment. What exactly are the flash regulations? It would be nice to know if we should leave our strobes at the hotel if we're not allowed to use them...one less thing to carry along.
 
We are counting down the days before we leave for Belize (17 days) and the days before we go whale shark diving (23 days)...

You're counting down the days? What kind of weirdo does that? :D

(see my signature line, lol, it's all I can do to concentrate at work these days)

Just do me a favor and don't use up all the whale shark sightings in May. Leave at least a couple for those of us arriving in June.

And have a great trip!
 
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Elletek, the main regulation that will affect you is no flash allowed in the whale shark zone.

Yesterday, April 26, no whale sharks were seen and the snapper are starting to spread out suggesting spawning is over and chances of seeing whale sharks again this full moon are low.
Will be waiting for May's full moon. Will stop posting until May other than to put some photos on when I get a spare moment.

The full moon in June is good for whale sharks but bad for weather - and we are hoping we get a few good weather days then for Downing.
 
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