Part of my bucket list is to actually swim with the whalesarks. Crazy, right? For someone like me who doesn't even know how to swim properly. When our tickets were finally booked for this trip I was beyond thrilled!
I did not expect that the local government of Oslob has been doing a lot of effort in ensuring that the Whalesharks won't be harmed or abused in any way. All the tourist will go through an orientation on what not to do when in the water and during the encounter. It's good to know that they're not only trying to gain money from tourism but are also protecting them. Who knows until when these whalesharks will come around in the shores of Oslob.
The brady bunch before we hit the orientation area happen to meet Slater Young who just got off the shore too! Lucky us, of course we wouldn't let the opportunity pass without a photo op. He was kind enough to accommodate us and even wore shirt his shirt before posing (it would have been better if we was half naked lol).
The happy trooper. Our bangkero's (fisherman/boatmen) for the day.
He is the only assigned whaleshark feeder for the day. NO one else can feed the whale but him. He fed them little shrimps (plankton) while the whaleshark was happily swimming with us. This was the first encounter. I was left in the boat along with the other fisherman, as I wasn't ready to jump in and volunteered to take the shots instead. Everyone wasn't so sure yet on how to interact with them. The orientation was very very specific, to swim at least 3 feet from the head 5 feet away from the tail. And when swimming: no bubbles please if you don't want them to think you want to be eaten too! Bubbles would appear like plankton's and the whaleshars might think you're food and just swallow you whole.
This was the medium-sized whaleshark who followed us throughout the time we were in the water.
My sister-in-law was crying.. She was pretty scared at first when the whaleshark followed her. Who wouldn't? I tell you myself, it's creepy. Even if you know for a fact they don't eat anything other than planktons.
Look how they take in the food and how their mouth can actually swallow a lot of water in a vaccum-like way. Interesting.
Here's another baby whaleshark following us. We seem to be an interesting group as we had two whaleshark following us the whole time.
This was them. Already having fun after a few minutes of shock and amazement. I had as much fun laughing at them seeing how silly their faces become when the whaleshark tries to come near them. Sometimes they get too close for comfort.
My husband having a moment with the whaleshark. I think he was faking excitement but beyond the smile is a whole lot of fear. Look, Honey! The shark is behind you! Haha!
I am not sure what happende here. My mother and sister-in-law having a blast.
This was my scaredy-cat moment. I am not sure if I was excited or trying to escape away from him. Caught off-guard. LOL
Despite their size, they are very friendly. The only thing that makes you scared is the fact that they're still a shark. They're still animals and pretty much don't have human instincts. What if suddenly they feel irritated? With one whip of it's tail for sure you will suffer drowning. But in any case, according to the fisherman, there hasn't been any reported incidents of anything like that since they started.
It was a very memorable experience! Another bucket list checked off, woot! I will come back. I will have a better underwater gear by then.
Thank you so much for reading.
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