Saw my first whale shark today!

[kathydee]

It was so amazing!

I am diving for a month in Utilia Honduras. There have been almost daily whale shark spottings since just before christmas but in 30 dives I had no luck. The weather is great, and the vis is between 15-25 meters. Today we had a very exciting surface interval, after a dramatic and fantastic plunge down to 35 meters to swim through the pinacle pass through. First, we spotted a pod of pilot whales nearby and slipped into the water, but missed a peek. We left the pilot whales behind to hunt for whale sharks-which were rumored to be near.

It's so exciting to sit at the back of the boat as tuna boil on the surface, anticipating what is just under the surface! In this case, a 30+ ft beautiful, graceful whale shark!! We followed the amazing animal, slipping in a few times more, once just a few meters away!

WOW what a fish!

I LOVE THIS SPORT!

 

[farsidefan1]

Wow, sucks to be you lol. Pardon the green caste to my post. I hope someday to share that adventure!

 

[SelkieDVM]

Congrats KD! Must have been an awesome experience. I'm hoping to see my first when I got to the Galapagos later this year.

Cheers,
Lilla

 

[SkipperJohn]

I've seen a few of them here in the North East while fishing (of course not for them). But it must have been many many times greater seeing them, even if form the boat, in that gin-clear water you have there opposed to what we have here in New York. And I never swam with them.
I am sufficiently jealous.

 

[firstdive2005]

I can feel your rush. My wife and I went whale shark snorkeling north of Cancun this July for my 50th b-day present. What a rush. I was joking that I would throw my wife in so we wouldn't waste the money. As I was jamming my fins on the get in, there she was just flying after the whale with the dm in tow yelling at her to get away from in front, its' mouth was wide open. The whale was a least 30ft. She is 5ft2in. Would have fit just right.

 

[sabbath999]

I would love to see a whale shark.

 

[Teamcasa]

Turtles – Check
Mantas – Check
Mola mola – Check
Monk Seals – Check
Sharks – Some
Whale Shark – Certainly on my list! Very cool, are there any pictures?

 

[Hoomi]

Sounds awesome, and like others here, my wife and I hope to someday also have that experience.

Very cool!

 

[harmony]

My last encounter with a whale shark was on the 19th of december. I decided that it was a gift for xmas. What is amazing is how they decide to come to you. On each occasion, we were at the surface before the start or finish of a dive and the whale shark came to see us and just hung around watching us. I always feel a little bit richer after such an experience. I am attaching a couple of photos. You can find more photos on our blog. They are in the folder 2008

Diving in New Caledonia

 

[kathydee]

she was just flying after the whale with the dm in tow yelling at her to get away from in front, its' mouth was wide open. The whale was a least 30ft. She is 5ft2in. Would have fit just right.

LOL! They are crazy looking underwater & the mouth is HUGE!

The researcher at the whale shark institute here on Utilia told a story where his partner (a small woman) dropped off the boat to snorkel and ended up in the mouth of a whale shark. Her video was running and she actually caught footage of the inside of the whale shark's mouth. He said there is no way a person can be swallowed because the throat opening is so tiny- so usually the shark will just veer away. In this case, it just spat the photographer out. SCARY!

First time in, I slid in just next to it and had to swim hard to avoid being whacked by it's towering tail!