Our friend Susan (last name not actually Jones) swam with whales in Tonga. We’ve been jealous and trying to catch up ever since. Recently, we took a step closer, though we haven’t yet fully achieved oceanic parity.
Together with Suzana’s brother, Robert, we swam with whale sharks, which are the largest (by far) fish in the world. While not technically whales, whale sharks are still pretty impressive. To quote Wikipedia:
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m (41.5 ft) and a weight of about 21.5 t (47,000 lb).[8] The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate.
The whale shark is found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in the water below 21 °C (70 °F).[2] Modeling suggests a lifespan of about 70 years, but measurements have proven difficult.[9] Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes, and pose no threat to humans.
Swimming with whale sharks near La Paz can only be done with a guide. There are several companies that provide the guide service. We picked the one that goes out of our marina, On Board Baja, making the logistics easy. They supplied snorkeling equipment and wet suits:
A knowledgable and enthusiastic guide:
A driver:
And where to find the whale sharks:
Here’s Suzana, Robert, the guide, and a whale shark (grey shape with white dots and a fin sticking out of the water, at the bottom of the photo):
The whale sharks we swam with were juveniles, perhaps 3-4 meters long. That’s big enough so that your normal sense of scale sort of breaks down, making for a very surreal experience.
They have huge mouths, giant gills, and a really big tail. There are also often smaller fish hanging off the whale sharks.
While you try not to get too close, Suzana and I were both, separately, bumped into by whale sharks that came up from behind so that we didn’t see them coming. Getting too close or bumping isn’t really dangerous, but it scares them away. Which is another weird part of the experience, that something so much bigger than you is scared of you.
A good time was had by all — well, I can’t speak for the whale sharks, but we enjoyed the hell out of it.
