Photos of the Whale Sharks of Isla Mujeres -- a magical trip!

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

My family and I just returned from a trip to Isla Mujeres. We timed this trip around the full moon in July because of the bonita spawning that attracts large numbers of whale sharks to the area. We had four days of snorkeling -- two days we only found two whale sharks each day, one day we found nothing, but on the last day we hit the "mother load". We had bright sunny skies, flat seas, and hundreds (I am NOT exaggerating) of whale sharks feeding at the surface. Truly a magical experience! Below are a few photos. Others can be found here:
debersole.com

Doug

 

[Sully3]

nice shots! awesome!!!!

 

[trigfunctions]

Amazing shots. We just got back from there today too! We swam with the sharks on Saturday, 7/24. The conditions were perfect and we saw dozens of them. Which days were you there and which days were these pics taken?

As an aside - isn't Isla Mujeres wonderful? We really like it there.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Thanks for the kind words!

The third photo was taken on July 23rd. All the other photos were taken on July 25th.

 

[stakanak]

Amazing!

 

[fuggler]

Wow! I'm jealous of both the awesome pictures and experience!

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Excellent shots Doug. I was on Holbox the 11-16th. We had some great experiences with sharks everyday, but our last day was the best as well, with approximately 100 sharks in the blue water. Last year I had the encounter with hundreds for our WHOLE 5 days there, What an amazing experience! Hope you and the fam enjoyed yourselves, next time we shall time it better!

 

[victor]

Wow! I'm jealous of both the awesome pictures and experience!

I could not have said it better.
I love the last photo, great image.

 

[Larry C]

Fantastic, Doug! I'm way jealous!

 

[ReefHound]

Thanks for the kind words!

The third photo was taken on July 23rd. All the other photos were taken on July 25th.

Great shots. We were out there on the 25th as well. At least 50 or more sharks. We had a large group scattered over three boats. Some of us were on the boat that sank! (Were you in this area?) They transferred all the stuff to our boat and our guide moved to the other boat. Our boat pulled it for awhile until a bigger boat tried to take it to port. Unfortunately, they didn't make it.

How did you get those great shots looking at the sharks on the surface from below? Our guides told us free diving was prohibited and we had to stay on the surface.