Whale shark off Palm Beach

[ONESPEED]

That is an incredible experience! How big was it?

We were fortunate enough to freedive with one off Fort Lauderdale many years ago. The one we saw was 20-25 feet which is not that big by whaleshark standards. He swam up next to our 23 foot boat so we were able to accurately guage his size. There was a whole ecosystem of marine life around him.... remoras, large cobias, numerous yellowtail, etc. He was curious and turned around on the surface and swam right under me. I had to really move to get out of the way of his tail fin! The tail fin is something to watch out for when you are in the water with one.

That was a good day Chris! One of my favorite dive memories to date.

 

[MantaRey]

No pics it was a student dive. I work for the scuba club; we were the only ones who saw it. The average in west palm has been one whale shark every 3 years.

It was just a baby: 15' long and it was covered in a school of cobia. It was seen in 60' of water (the playground) just outside of the inlet.

Conditions in west palm as of this morning: 100' vis, 77F, pretty strong north current at drifting spot/mid reef.

Oh yeah we also saw a ginormous great hammerhead yesterday morning at the bluffs. Man it's been a good week. :-D

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Dang, too bad it wasn't an underwater photographer class! I'm glad you got to see it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[stangd1909]

No pics it was a student dive. I work for the scuba club; we were the only ones who saw it. The average in west palm has been one whale shark every 3 years.

It was just a baby: 15' long and it was covered in a school of cobia. It was seen in 60' of water (the playground) just outside of the inlet.

Conditions in west palm as of this morning: 100' vis, 77F, pretty strong north current at drifting spot/mid reef.

Oh yeah we also saw a ginormous great hammerhead yesterday morning at the bluffs. Man it's been a good week. :-D

Damnit LOL....you guys need to start getting some pics of these awesome events!

 

[DMdoogie]

I saw them in Winter last year and the year before. The first was a 15 ft. baby, seen at Juno Ledge heading South. He took off before we could get close. The one last year was 25 ft., right off the Lake Worth inlet, also heading South. We got to swim along with him for a long time. Cool!

 

[Crazy Fingers]

What a dream. Diving with a whale shark, admiring its beauty, then shooting one of the 70 pound cobes following it. Ahhh...

 

[baitedstorm]

With the exception of last year, there has been report of a single whale shark in Palm Beach for the last three years. I have yet to see it *cries* but my sources are solid (I worked a boat there for a few yrs). I wonder if whale sharks have travel patterns (anyone know?). It would be pretty cool to think it was the same shark each time.


BTW, LOVE the Scuba CLub's training pool!!!!

 

[MantaRey]

Heh Our deep tank is definitely fun... Or intimidating depending on how you look at it apparently. I love it because we get to work out the student's buoyancy issues way before we hit the ocean which usually helps out a lot.

An answer to your question: Whale sharks swim to the caribbean. They come close to Palm Beach because of the plankton-rich gulfstream. But even though they are so big; they are so few and far between that you stand a slim chance of seeing them.