It was so exciting. We had just got back into the boat after our dive in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Watamu in Kenya. We all dekitted and started back for shore when the skipper shouts that he has seen a whaleshark. We all look out and I see nothing. Everyone else seems to see it somewhere at the surface except me. :-( Skipper moves along a bit and tells us to jump in the water. So at the double, we don fins, masks and snorkels and jump in. I get directions from the boat and fin like mad and there it is! Fantastic!! A majestic whaleshark about 5feet below the surface gliding along (quickly). It was about 6-7 metres long. I swam alongside it for a while and took a few snatched photos - it was quite hard while finning so fast to keep up. I also managed a quick bit of video which you can see at
http://www.sublimescubaphotography.com/whaleshark.mov
This clip is 12 seconds long and is 4mb so best if you have broadband. It is not the best video in the world but it is a great memento for me. ALso I have attached a pic. I didn''t have my wide angle on me so I couldn't get it all in. After a minute or so, it outswam us and disappeared into the blue. It was an amazing experience. We were all buzzing back on the boat. Then just when we had dekitted and started off again, skipper shouts that there is another one!! Woo Hoo! He drifts over to it and it is swimming right beside us at the surface. This one, however, dives away so we didn't get the chance to swim with it.
It was a fantastic experience and I had always wanted to see a whaleshark. We weren't looking for one so to have two just appear was fantastic. The one I swam with was so elegant and so powerful. To be so close to something that magnificent was the highlight of my diving in Kenya.
http://www.sublimescubaphotography.com/whaleshark.mov
This clip is 12 seconds long and is 4mb so best if you have broadband. It is not the best video in the world but it is a great memento for me. ALso I have attached a pic. I didn''t have my wide angle on me so I couldn't get it all in. After a minute or so, it outswam us and disappeared into the blue. It was an amazing experience. We were all buzzing back on the boat. Then just when we had dekitted and started off again, skipper shouts that there is another one!! Woo Hoo! He drifts over to it and it is swimming right beside us at the surface. This one, however, dives away so we didn't get the chance to swim with it.
It was a fantastic experience and I had always wanted to see a whaleshark. We weren't looking for one so to have two just appear was fantastic. The one I swam with was so elegant and so powerful. To be so close to something that magnificent was the highlight of my diving in Kenya.