Team 1: Measuring the sharks

Wow, what a day for Ken, Leah and Tanya (again)! Out third day snorkeling with the whale sharks, and it was certainly no let down. While Alex, Doris and Natalie headed to the lab with Yo and Steve to delve in to some data entry following their successful day snorkeling on Friday, we were up nice and early to join Ningaloo Whale Shark & Dive.

Another blissful morning starting at the boat ramp at Tantabidi, sun warming our faces, soft sand under foot and the beautiful turquoise water promised another stunning day.

Out on the boat, it didn’t take long for the spotter plane to get up in the air at 10am and radio through the first sighting of a whale shark. The shark did dive away but before long there was another whale shark in the area and with a splash, we were in and swimming away!

The biggest highlight of the entire trip for me was definitely the opportunity today to have a long swim with the fourth beautiful whale shark we came across, a smaller male. It’s too hard to describe in words but kicking firmly away with my fins to keep up with this amazing fish was initially challenging.

But before too long, I’d forgotten about kicking, breathing through a snorkel and slipped in to an amazing place of being in awe at the shark beside me and feeling truly at peace within this amazing environment. What an overwhelming feeling… Darcy was also gliding alongside and we enjoyed the 30-40 minutes swimming with the whale shark. Just amazing :o)

During the morning Brad and Darcy also got some ‘sciency’ work done (made up word to rival Ken’s ‘awesomer’). Measuring tape in hand, they dived down to take length measurements of the sharks.

Brad also launched a plankton net over the back of the boat to sample what the sharks have been munching on in the water. The net returned some water samples teeming with little critters that make up the staple diet of the whale sharks and all of the other magnificent residents of the Ningaloo Marine Park.

And then it finally got all too much for Ken and Brad who had to ‘rest their eyes’… Leah couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a photo showing the boys hard at work!

The day wrapped up with a snorkel in the finally jellyfish-free waters closer to shore and before we knew it, we were back at the house to regale Yo, Nat, Alex , Doris and Steve with our stories from the day.

Nat cooked up a storm of yummy spaghetti meatballs in the kitchen and Yo finished it off with artistically arranged slices of strawberry on cheesecake. A perfect end to a fantastic day.

… And tomorrow, the lab team will be back on the boat to snorkel and help Nat enjoy her Mother’s Day.


-Tanya