Do you love whale sharks too? I remember the first time I had seen a whale shark, and wow it is massive. It's like seeing a huge bus in the sea. It is such an exhilarating experience to swim with these gentle giants. And you don't have to scuba dive as you can see them from the surface. That time, the whale shark was swimming fast but I was grateful enough to see it below me. I felt so tiny! Seeing them in the deep blue really made me the happiest!
I cannot deny that my misanthropic nature made my travel all about seeing the animals in their natural habitat - sharks, whales, sea lions, elephants, whale sharks, sea turtles, penguins, crocodiles, manta rays etc. I've already seen these amazing creatures and I would do anything to see more for as long as I live - and also do my part in protecting them from fucking humans. Because little change is better than no change at all!
After scuba diving, my life has never been the same. My greatest fear is dying without diving in the best places yet. What do you think all this effort for? I just want to be able to afford to live my life to the fullest.
As an avid diver, I don't condone marine parks, Seaworld, and all those huge aquariums in the city. Do me a favor - you shouldn't too. If you and your kids really want to see marine life in all its glory - you have to do it fairly. Unfortunately, due to profit, there are unethical ways being practiced to see these sea creatures, even in the wild.
Just because nice big creatures exist does not mean that you should abuse them. It does not mean that you should make a fin soup out of them and leave the remainder of the fish uneaten. Whale sharks are docile even though they are massive, they are too nice that they even allow swimmers to hitch a ride - which sucks. Please don't support this kind of tours! And now the whale sharks are endangered too due to human activities. It sucks what horrible things humans do to animals. It is not surprising given that they do the same even to their fellow humans. Use and abuse is the name of the game.
Being the largest fish in the sea, whale sharks should have an enormous appetite that includes us. But surprisingly, their favorite is plankton. Just be thankful that you are not his favorite. The whale sharks scoop these tiny plants and all the poor fish that happen to be around using their colossal mouths.
Whale sharks prefer the warm waters and populate all tropical seas. They can be found in Central America, Asia, and Africa. They also migrate to the west coast of Australia. The Ningaloo reef provides the whale sharks an abundant supply of plankton.
It is the ultimate bucket-list experience to swim alongside the largest fish in the sea! And I hope that I can see them again...before they go extinct. The diabolic nature of things really sucks sometimes.
What about you? Would you like to swim with a whale shark too?
The pictures above were taken with a respectful distance from the whale shark - no flash, no touch! Edited in photoshop to make it more visible.