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| Whale Shark heading my way |
When the call came in that a whale shark had been spotted by some fishermen friends way offshore of Kona, Hawaii I didn't hesitate to make the call to head in that direction. If there was even a small chance of the shark still being there I wanted to see it. Since Jan. 2011 I have only seen 2 other whale sharks out here in Hawaiian waters, both being in Molokini Crater, Maui. As we raced out almost four miles offshore I crossed my fingers and hoped that this would be my third.
When we arrived at the FAD, or fish aggregating device, we saw multiple fishing boats milling about the area...a good sign. We all kept our eyes on the water for a dark shadow. I was the first to spot it. As we all watch the shark rise towards the surface its detailed spot pattern came into view. Researchers use these spots to identify individual whale sharks.
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| Tail End of a Whale Shark |
As everyone else watched the whale shark calmly swimming around the boat, I was busy getting into my snorkel gear. When the captain gave me the nod I silently slipped into the water and realized with delight that the whale shark was swimming right to me. I took a few pictures as it passed to my right then casually followed behind it, watching it check out several of the boats in the area. My guide jumped in from the other boat which I was glad to see. And that was it, just two snorkelers and a whale shark, with about 6,000ft of pure blue water beneath us. Why this shark chose to visit the surface on this day in this place I will never know but I'm sure glad I was there to greet it when it did.
When the call came in that a whale shark had been spotted by some fishermen friends way offshore of Kona, Hawaii I didn't hesitate to make the call to head in that direction. If there was even a small chance of the shark still being there I wanted to see it. Since Jan. 2011 I have only seen 2 other whale sharks out here in Hawaiian waters, both being in Molokini Crater, Maui. As we raced out almost four miles offshore I crossed my fingers and hoped that this would be my third.
When we arrived at the FAD, or fish aggregating device, we saw multiple fishing boats milling about the area...a good sign. We all kept our eyes on the water for a dark shadow. I was the first to spot it. As we all watch the shark rise towards the surface its detailed spot pattern came into view. Researchers use these spots to identify individual whale sharks.
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