Whale Sharks




snorkelling with the whale sharks
I have been absent from my blogging duties, but I have been alternatively disposed chasing whale sharks in the Philippines. On February 25, we met Lisa, our youngest daughter, in the Philippines following her two year stint as an ESL teacher in Korea. All being scuba divers, we booked four days of diving in Sebang as part of our trip together: diving and eating and sleeping, diving and eating and sleeping. Spectacular coral embellished the walls and floors of the sea but equally spectacular were the dainty sea horses, the turtle stealing fish eggs, the massive giant clams, the wrecks and one very cool electric clam.

We had a wonderful experience in Sebang, despite having to endure watching and (judging) old, grey haired men strutting about with young Pilipino women. We boated back to the mainland, flew back to Manila and then moved on to Donsol where yes, we saw whale sharks – on two different occasions.

Whale shark sightings are almost certain at this time of year in Donsol, East Philippines. However, the day we arrived in the little town of Donsol, the tour guide operator was disheartened as there had been no sightings for five days. Just the same, we signed up for the snorkel tour in hopes that we might be lucky, and in the meantime, we booked yet another scuba dive.

Lisa, a wanna-be marine biologist and possessing divine control over the fish of the sea manifested whale sharks for us on our dive! Scuba diving is actually illegal with whale sharks but what is one to do when they arrive during a dive? Four massive giants emerged from the depths and swan in silhouette above us. Fortunately, a fellow diver, Hugo, had a video camera. Watching them was like a prayer, a holy moment.

The following day, we boated offshore for our snorkel tour to see the whale sharks. We were still a bit high from the day before. We saw more. This time, we were the ones in silhouette as we viewed them from above – from a giant wide plankton sweeping mouth to its magnificent black tail; a full 30 feet or more of smooth, sleek form with giraffe like hide. We saw not just one, but two of these wonderful, gentle giants of the world. Again, we have photos courtesy of a fellow diver from Japan named Taki. The rest of the trip was an anti-climax: rafting through one of the Cave Wonders of the World, riding in a jeepney, riding in a squishy motorcycle taxi, having my prescription eye glasses pick pocketed from my purse, spelunking high up into a cave, zip-lining across the jungle, dining in Manila as we watched the sunset ... ho hum.


 

Amazing Turtle




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