Whale Sharks - Bahia de los Angeles
Sep. 19th, 2020 05:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
I was going to do something like edit the underwater video in a logical order, even if it was starting from the end and working back, but I received a demand for whale sharks ASAP, so here's the video from day three of my trip.
In late summer and autumn, whale sharks come to the soupy, plankton-filled shallow waters of Bahia de los Angeles. The bay is stunning, ringed by beautiful desert mountains; the water is warm, and snorkelling with the whale sharks is wonderful! They emerge from the gloom, grey and white spotted giants carrying a collection of remoras. There are huge shoals of herring out there too, attracting sea birds.
There's a theory that we're supposed to stay at least six feet away from the whale sharks, and avoid touching them. It's a great theory, but nobody explained it to the whale sharks, who are very big, and can swim a lot faster then I can. If they're heading right for you, there's really no getting out of the way (and I wouldn't want to kick one in the face with my fins trying). I did get gently brushed on the arm by the tip of a tail on one occasion...
We took a late afternoon dive at Punta Don Juan afterwards, which was a lovely site with more stingrays than I saw anywhere else on the trip. I had a technical issue with my camera, though, so I didn't get much footage from that dive.
Enjoy the whale sharks! I certainly did :-)
In late summer and autumn, whale sharks come to the soupy, plankton-filled shallow waters of Bahia de los Angeles. The bay is stunning, ringed by beautiful desert mountains; the water is warm, and snorkelling with the whale sharks is wonderful! They emerge from the gloom, grey and white spotted giants carrying a collection of remoras. There are huge shoals of herring out there too, attracting sea birds.
There's a theory that we're supposed to stay at least six feet away from the whale sharks, and avoid touching them. It's a great theory, but nobody explained it to the whale sharks, who are very big, and can swim a lot faster then I can. If they're heading right for you, there's really no getting out of the way (and I wouldn't want to kick one in the face with my fins trying). I did get gently brushed on the arm by the tip of a tail on one occasion...
We took a late afternoon dive at Punta Don Juan afterwards, which was a lovely site with more stingrays than I saw anywhere else on the trip. I had a technical issue with my camera, though, so I didn't get much footage from that dive.
Enjoy the whale sharks! I certainly did :-)
