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| Hungry Whale Shark |
Whale Sharks, (
Rhincodon typus), are the world's biggest fish. They are a shark, but unlike their more well-known relatives the whale shark does not have teeth. Instead it uses gill rakers to filter out tiny plankton from the ocean water. While it may seem daunting to jump in the water with these gentle giants the truth is you couldn't be with a safer, more harmless animal. And if you are lucky they might just stick around long enough for you to get a feel for just how big they really are.
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| Emerging out of the blue |
This is what happened on a recent trip to Baja, Mexico. I was sent on a
photography assignment for
UnCruise Adventures on their small ship cruise down in the
Sea of Cortez. Every week the passengers have a chance of encountering whale sharks as the Sea of Cortez is one of their favorite haunts. It is never guaranteed but this week we were lucky. The upwelling brings in nutrients which powers the phytoplankton and zooplankton blooms that the whale sharks feed on. This same phenomena that draws in the whale sharks can make water visibility, and underwater photography a challenge.
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| Head On Whale Shark |
I was down here in late November, and the conditions varied greatly day to day off the coast of La Paz. Wind and overcast skies can affect your ability to spot the whale sharks since you are mostly looking for dark silhouettes just under the surface of the water. They are sharks so they don't have to come up and breath like dolphins or whales. These pictures were from my second day looking for whale sharks when it was calm and sunny. We sailed slowly through the area and spotted a shadow...which turned out to be three feeding whale sharks.
Finding feeding whale sharks is very lucky because they tend to be preoccupied with their feast and let you swim quite close. This is necessary for pictures since the visibility of the greenish water can be around six feet or so in the feeding zone. Watching the sharks suck in massive amounts of water and plankton through their vacuum like mouth is a sight to behold. It is one of the things that makes me seek out places around the world where one can encounter these majestic animals. Check out some of my other whale sharks encounters here:
Maui,
Big Island, and
Philippines.
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| Heidi swimming next a 'small' whale shark |
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| Heidi and Lucy after swimming with sharks |
By the end of the day we had swam with six different whale sharks ranging in size from 14ft to 30ft. Thanks so much to Christian for taking us out in his sailboat, Lucy for the wonderful breakfast, Heidi for always being up for adventure, and UnCruise Adventures for bringing me down to Mexico. You can check out some of my pro whale shark pics from over the years on my site:
www.daimarsphotos.com or
http://www.daimarsphotos.com/Wildlife/Sharks/
Other Baja Adventures:
The Last Ride of the White Stallion
Whale Sharks, (Rhincodon typus), are the world's biggest fish. They are a shark, but unlike their more well-known relatives the whale shark does not have teeth. Instead it uses gill rakers to filter out tiny plankton from the ocean water. While it may seem daunting to jump in the water with these gentle giants the truth is you couldn't be with a safer, more harmless animal. And if you are lucky they might just stick around long enough for you to get a feel for just how big they really are.
Finding feeding whale sharks is very lucky because they tend to be preoccupied with their feast and let you swim quite close. This is necessary for pictures since the visibility of the greenish water can be around six feet or so in the feeding zone. Watching the sharks suck in massive amounts of water and plankton through their vacuum like mouth is a sight to behold. It is one of the things that makes me seek out places around the world where one can encounter these majestic animals. Check out some of my other whale sharks encounters here: Maui, Big Island, and Philippines.
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