I came face to face with these gentle giants and I'm forever changed.

"I put a spell on you."

It may look like I am casting a spell on a whale shark but it seems their counterspells were much more powerful.

I met these gigantic sharks (they aren't whales and belong to the shark family) when my friends and I traveled to the southern part of Cebu to a place called Oslob. We left the city at 4 in the morning, swam with the whale sharks, and were back in Cebu City in time for dinner.

I came unprepared. Sure, I brought my swimmies, rashguard, boardshorts, and a snorkel set (sadly, I didn't have fins) but I was not mentally ready to come this close to such massive creatures underwater. It was a breathtaking and almost spiritual experience.

This guy didn't flash a smile for my camera and instead went for the serious yet mysterious blogger look.

Whale sharks look intimidating. They can grow to up to 40 feet long. Their mouths are about 5 feet wide with over 300 teeth inside. But these filter feeders won't be interested in eating you at all.

I didn't "try" to touch them but on a few occasions some of them swam too close (while swimming alongside me) that I had to put my hands on their bodies to push myself away. Whale shark skin feels quite rough like sandpaper. They didn't seem to mind or notice when I did this.

Because of their size and the fact that I was so close, I couldn't get all of the whale shark in the frame.

I was reminded of how small we all are in the scheme of things.

I am sharing this to help to raise awareness on the awesomeness of our planet and to inspire you to make mindful choices that protect and preserve our environment.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

I had a whale of the time.