I watched a 60 Minutes program about Sperm Whales and it reminded me of the time I went diving with a Whale Shark in the Maldives.
I was in the Maldives for the maiden voyage of the Four Seasons Hotel's luxury dive yacht. On one excursion, we sighted a whale shark, geared up and used the dingy to get close to her, in order to swim with her. We were instructed not to touch her. We knew it was a juvenile and a female, as females are much larger than males.
As much as I had learned about whale sharks and how gentle they are, their size was immensely intimidating. Their size can run up to 39 feet long. georgiaaquarium.org says one was once measured at 61.7 feet.
At one point the giant turned and came straight toward me, head on with her huge mouth wide open. They feed by sucking water into their mouths as they look for plankton. I did not want to be mistaken for plankton so I quickly flippered to get out of her way.
Not wanting to collide with her, I actually had to push away from her. My hand landed on one of her huge gills as her spotted body gliding past me. I was horrified, afraid I might have damaged the protective mucus layer that protects her against bacteria and parasites.
I made sure I kept far away from her after that, even though she kept swimming around us and near us.
The size of her up close and personal was breathtaking!
There were four of us swimming with her and she with us. At around 45 minutes we back swam to the dingy. We didn't want to exhaust her, although it was she who exhausted us.
Once on the yacht we sounded like we'd all had a religious experience. Our voices were raised in high pitched excitement. We'd had a close encounter! It was something that I'm sure we'd all remember forever. I certainly have.
I saw another whale shark when I was out on a 27-foot fishing boat off the shores of Sri Lanka. I wasn't fishing, I was there to take photos of fishermen hauling their nets full of fish. The sea was fairly rough and I was at the top of the boat, the navigation bridge, if you could call it that. I didn't really trust the old rickety boat but figured it was an adventure.
At one point the boat heeled from one side to the other. I held on to my camera bag, and wrapped my arms around a wooden stanchion and held on tight. It was then I saw a giant whale shark longer than our 27-foot boat. Freaking longer than the boat!
I knew it was a whale shark because of its spotted body.
I called out to the captain who acknowledged me, but my friends were too busy being seasick to get to the side to see the gentle giant. They missed a wonder. I saw it but couldn't get my camera out fast enough to photograph it. Besides it was so close to the boat, (like right next to it!) it would have been impossible to hang out far enough to get a photo as it swam alongside us. We were two ships passing in the night - except it was day!
We kept motoring to where the fishermen were located. While a boat began to haul up their net, I brought out my camera and its long lens. Our boat was again heeling and there was no way I could let go of my death-grip hold on the stanchion without falling overboard. Fortunately it took the other boat time to haul in their net so I was able to squeeze off some shots.
The fish were small, silvery ones, certainly not whale sharks, thank goodness. Since childhood, I loved deep sea fishing but because of my encounters with two of those giants, I've given up deep sea fishing.
What's a girl to do?…go fishing in Clearlake instead of the ocean. No friendly whale sharks there.
Lucy Llewellyn Byard is currently a columnist for the Record-Bee. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
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