When I was twelve, my family and I were on a vacation in Egypt.
We went on a snorkeling/dolphin-spotting trip one day and while we were heading to the reefs, my sister and one of the other girls saw a big shadow pass the boat. The guide and the boat captain got super excited and we started looking around and suddenly there was a whale shark swimming ahead of us.
The guide was going crazy and just blurted out "I'm going snorkeling with it". My dad asked if he can come with him. My mom's face was hilarious. I wanted to come too and suddenly everyone on board was frantically looking around for masks and snorkels and flippers. The guide and my dad were the first ones to jump in and I was right behind my dad.
I'll never forget trying to keep up my with my dad's pace, kicking my feet as hard as I could while trying not to inhale salt water while a gigantic whale shark swam ahead and below of me. The water was so deep and so blue and the shark was absolutely gorgeous. My dad even got so close he could touch the caudal fin. Coolest thing I've ever done.
I recently did this in Oslob and I have to warn you this photo doesn’t show you the absolute hoards of people waiting to swim. When we arrived there were probably 500 people minimum. The boats fit about 10 people each and there are about 15 boats in the water for a half hour then they come into shore and take out the next group of people
While it was still really amazing to see these creatures up close, the reality is that it was like an amusement park.
Also, like another person said, it’s been frowned upon by environmentalists because it messes with their migration patterns since they are staying in one place.
b378n on January 29th, 2020 at 15:38 UTC »
When I was twelve, my family and I were on a vacation in Egypt.
We went on a snorkeling/dolphin-spotting trip one day and while we were heading to the reefs, my sister and one of the other girls saw a big shadow pass the boat. The guide and the boat captain got super excited and we started looking around and suddenly there was a whale shark swimming ahead of us.
The guide was going crazy and just blurted out "I'm going snorkeling with it". My dad asked if he can come with him. My mom's face was hilarious. I wanted to come too and suddenly everyone on board was frantically looking around for masks and snorkels and flippers. The guide and my dad were the first ones to jump in and I was right behind my dad.
I'll never forget trying to keep up my with my dad's pace, kicking my feet as hard as I could while trying not to inhale salt water while a gigantic whale shark swam ahead and below of me. The water was so deep and so blue and the shark was absolutely gorgeous. My dad even got so close he could touch the caudal fin. Coolest thing I've ever done.
JavArc13 on January 29th, 2020 at 15:45 UTC »
As cool as this may look I can't quite shake the feeling that this may have a negative effect on the behavior of these animals.
jlenstrom on January 29th, 2020 at 16:06 UTC »
I recently did this in Oslob and I have to warn you this photo doesn’t show you the absolute hoards of people waiting to swim. When we arrived there were probably 500 people minimum. The boats fit about 10 people each and there are about 15 boats in the water for a half hour then they come into shore and take out the next group of people
While it was still really amazing to see these creatures up close, the reality is that it was like an amusement park.
Also, like another person said, it’s been frowned upon by environmentalists because it messes with their migration patterns since they are staying in one place.