The Whale Shark Dive (15/4/14)

I was up at 6.45 to make sure I had all my stuff sorted for the trip as I would be on the boat all day. I grabbed a quick bite to eat for breakfast and on my return to the room Camille had woken up too. It was now about 7.15 so we both walked down to the front of the hotel as that's where we were being picked up from by our trip organisers at 7.30. There were about 10 people there already, all waiting for their coach to come and pick them up. At 7.30 the first coach arrived and a woman stepped off and shouted out a few names but none of them were ours. I think everyone was in the same boat in that no-one could remember the name of the company they'd booked with. A few companies had very similar names too which didn't help. A couple of others also came by with everyone slowly walking towards them to see if it was theirs. My bus got there about 7.40 so I said goodbye to Camille and jumped on. I was reminded upon it's arrival that mine was called 'King's Ningaloo Reef Tours'. There were about 12 people on already plus three instructors so I said hello and found a spare seat and sat down . The girl who had jumped off to call out my name then started giving everyone a little chat about the structure of the day. We picked up a few more people in town and then started our journey round the top of the national and down the other side as no roads run through the park. On the other side were a few campsites and caravan parks which we stopped at to pick up our final few passengers. During the drive the instructor gave us some facts about whale sharks and explained some of the rules about swimming with them. We eventually reached the jetty from which we would be taken to our boat and the queue of people was massive. This jetty is where all excursion companies leave from and there were about 10 boats moored up further out to sea. The order of boarding is decided by whoever brings their smaller ferrying boat to the jetty first which was good for us as our skipper soon arrived. There wasn't room for all of us so we split into two groups. I was in the first group out so I helped the staff load and unload some of the equipment which we needed during the day. We were soon on the boat and the second group arrived shortly after. It took a while for us to leave as the skipper was helping another company out today and had to take their customers to the boat too but he finally got on board and we started our journey out to sea. We were introduced to everyone and told the do's and dont's whilst out today and were then given our snorkelling gear. One of the staff on the boat was a photographer and videographer who would be capturing our dives on his camera. I was still going to take my action camera down with me just to give it a test and see how it performed. Naturally the DVD and photo disc would be for sale afterwards for us to pick up the following day. The first stop was at a shallow reef for us to check out our gear and make sure we were happy with it before getting back on board to get split into two groups. There were twenty of us there and so we would be dropped in the sea in two groups of ten. Overhead were three spotter planes and they report sightings to all the boats in the water and then each company chooses a location and sails there and they then communicate with each other and take it in turns to drop groups in the water. This makes sure everyone has a good day and the sharks aren't bothered by too many people around them at a time. The spotter planes report the direction of the shark and boats sail in front of them, drop a group that the shark then swims past. The boat then sails a bit further on, drops the second group, that the shark subsequently swims past, and goes back to the first group to pick them up and then picks up the second group. This is then repeated as many times as is possible. It's a well rehearsed routine by the staff. The first sighting report came in. Our skipper is a very experienced sailor and he managed to get us to our first shark about 40 minutes before any of the other boats arrived. This meant he was able to do about four drops, two per group, before we had to give another boat a turn. Everyone gets their kit on and sits at the back of the boat ready to jump in and then the instructor gets their group to line up across the rear so we can all jump in together. The first group got in and my group lined up while we sailed on a bit. We got the nod from the skipper and we were in. The instructor in the water with us watched for signals about where the whale shark would be coming from and relayed this information to us in the water. We all looked where she was pointing and slowly out of the dark blue a shadow appeared. Before the trip started I reckoned I'd probably cack myself at the sheer size of the animal and to be honest was a little nervous. But as the shadow came towards our position the gracefulness and slow speed of its approach made all my worries disappear. The whale shark gradually got closer and turned from a shadow into a much clearer image. The visibility was excellent and was about 30m so we got a fantastic view of the shark as it swam at us. We were told to allow about four metres between us and the shark and not to swim with it forwards of its fins but this shark swam straight at us. I wasn't sure which way to go and ended up right in front of it for a brief amount of time. But the slow speed allowed plenty of time to get out of its way and we were told if this happens not to panic and just paddle slowly so not to stress it out. I had my camera strapped to my wrist and managed to video the whole thing. It was an absolutely breathtaking experience. It swam past with such grace, accompanied by a couple of smaller fish, gulping at tiny plankton that only it could see. It must have been about 7-8 metres long. To add to it, this shark circled round for a while so we were able to follow it and got to see it from every angle. The perfect first dive. We were picked up by the boat shortly after and everyone got back on board elated at the experience, pumped with adrenaline and eager for our next drop. This wasn't long after and knowing what to expect this time I took a look round me once in the ocean before the shark arrived. As we were concentrating on the shark so much last time I hadn't noticed that I couldn't actually see the bottom of the ocean. It was just a dark blue void. All around us was an expanse of a similar vastness and there was nothing to be seen which was no bad thing. Let's just say my fleeting thought was 'I hope I'm not the slowest swimmer', just in case there was more than just us and the whale shark out here. The whale slowly came towards us again and we all took our time this time to fully take in exactly what it was we were doing and consign it to memory. It came past just as close as before and was absolutely magnificent. It changed course a bit which gave us a chance to swim with it briefly but soon left us behind. We were picked up again and told to sit at the back ready for another drop but the time passed and another few boats started arriving so were told we had to wait our turn and to take our snorkelling gear off and get a drink for the time being. About half an hour went by before we had to get ready again. Another whale had been spotted and we were just taking our position. The first group got dropped and then we did. This time the whale was sticking to a straight line, which again was straight at us, and so there was a bit of commotion as we all decided which way to swim. We got split by the shark this time which was actually better as there were fewer people to accidentally kick when we started to swim. This whale was much bigger at about 9-10 metres and didn't stick around for long so we were soon back on the boat. After one more drop which was just as exhilarating we all got picked up and took some time out to have some lunch. We had a bit of time to relax, sunbathe and let our food go down before another shark had been spotted and we were told to kit up again. We lined ourselves up in front of the shark and were dropped in for what was to be our final sighting of the day. This shark was a similar size to the first one we'd seen and it was swimming in a straight line so we didn't get much of a chance to swim with it and just after it passed us it dived anyway. We were picked up by the boat and got back on board and were told that we would now head back towards shore and stop for a while for us all to snorkel around the reef for a while. It was a shame that it had come to an end but we had managed to get some amazing views of the sharks and got really close to them so I wasn't disappointed. In the shallows the boat anchored up and we all got into the sea to have a swim round the reef. I had never realised the amount by which reef types could vary. There were the usual starfish shaped ones and standard rock shaped ones but there were also some shaped like giant barrels, others that looked like brains and the colours varied just as much. Visibility was alos good. I haven't done much snorkelling before but this was by far the best I'd seen. I was impressed previously by seeing a few plain coloured fish and getting them on camera but there were plenty more here and so many different colours, varieties and sizes to video. I spent most of the time in the sea and had to be retrieved by an instructor as I'd missed the calls from the boat to get everyone back on board. We'd spent about an hour at the reef but it was now time to head back to shore. On the way back the photographer went round finding out who wanted to buy the video and photo's so he knew how many discs to burn and I decided that although it was pretty expensive I think I'd regret not getting it so arranged to pick it up tomorrow morning. The boat anchored up near the jetty where we'd started the day and did the two shuttle runs to get everyone back on shore. I was in the first group again and while I was waiting for the second group I noticed loads of tiny crabs sunbathing on the rocks so stopped to take a couple of photo's. On the way back in the bus we dropped everyone off in reverse order of pickup chatting with the people we'd got to know during the day. When it was my turn I said goodbye to everyone and wished them a good holiday and thanked the staff. It had been an awesome day. The sun was out, the sea was warm, the company and organisation was perfect, and we'd all had some amazing sightings of the biggest shark in the ocean. I can't recommend it highly enough. Back in my room I changed quickly into my biker gear, put some washing in the machine as I was rapidly running out of clean clothes, and went out to investigate fuel can prices, just in case that had a bearing on the decision I had to make about carrying on. It was now about 3.30pm which gave me plenty of time to visit a few places and also to buy some food for dinner. With my research complete I had worked out that there were places selling fuel cans and the cheapest 10 litre one I could find was about $20 which wasn't a bank breaker. Back at the hotel my washing had finished so I hung it out and then went back to the room to chill out. Camille was now back and we both raved about our day having a joke about who's trip was better. I think it's fair to say they were pretty equal as all the companies offer pretty much the same thing. I phoned Sandra and Geoff to tell them about my day and at the end of the call randomly got a text from my sister saying mum was worried about me as we hadn't spoken for a while and was I ok? It was a little bit spooky because of how I was feeling about my trip and I know none of my family here had contacted home telling them about it. I asked her why she asked and started telling her about how I felt. She told me I should have got in touch sooner to chat about it but I wanted to try and work it out for myself first. It was good to talk to her though and I think she gave me the best advice of everyone so far. She said 'was a week or two of possible loneliness worth putting up with for what amazing things I might see as a result'. She was right. It was. It wasn't much longer I'd have to put up with it for. I took on board what she had to say and found out that the reason she'd asked was because my mum had asked her crystal if I was ok, which she has been doing periodically throughout my trip, apparently, and it had said no where as up to now it had said yes. Considering I don't really believe in that sort of thing it was a tad spooky. For the record she is not a witch, as far as I know, and she doesn't do palm readings! Or tarot cards! I thanked my big sister for her advice and went back to the room to sort something out for dinner. Camille and I ate together this time and we chatted more about our trips and what we both had planned for tomorrow. I was going back round to the other side of the national park to do some more snorkelling and, as she didn't have transport, Camille was going to spend the day at the town beach. I said would've taken her round to the national park with me but I didn't have a spare helmet which was a shame. I didn't think there was anywhere in town to find one either so we worked out we'd meet up in the evening. We spent the evening chilling at the hostel and I got a pretty early night as I was knackered from all the swimming during the day. This was definitely a day I wouldn't forget in a hurry. Truly magnificent.

In these photos the ones with the name on the bottom are the photographers. In those I'm the one wearing blue shorts with red stripes down the side, pasty skin, a muffin top and a camera on my left wrist.