Capturing the Moment

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. Tail End of a Whale Shark  As everyone else watched the whale shark calmly swimming around the boa...

Whale Sharks in the Philippines Photos and Experiences   In the sleepy little town of Oslob in the southeast corner of Cebu Island, whale sharks ( Rhincodon typus) congregate close to shore for a feeding bonanza. But there is something unique about the feeding activity of these gentle giants slurping in sea water and filtering out all the tiny plankton. The method they suck in and filter out the plankton is the same here as it is throughout the tropics where whale sharks can be found. It is where the food is coming from that is different. These young whale sharks are being lured into this near shore water by fishermen tossing in huge handfuls of the sharks favorite food, brine shrimp. Now the fishermen are charging money to take people out to swim with the whale sharks. I talked with a lot of people in the Philippines about this area called Oslob and the impacts of these tours. There is a lot of debate about how the local fishermen are changing the whale sharks behavior an...