The Caribbean was calm as our boatload of snorkelers headed
northwest from the bustling Mexican island of Isla Mujeres on a bright summer
day. The bright turquoise water near the island turned dark blue as we made our
way towards the Gulf of Mexico. A group of dolphins known locally as the “Rude
Boys” made a brief appearance. To our left, the only view on the horizon was
Isla Contoy, protected as a bird sanctuary.
After an hour or so, a small city seemed to appear on the
horizon. As we approached, the city morphed into a group of boats collected
together in a seemingly random spot. Once we got close, we saw the large dorsal
fins that attract thousands of people to jump into these deep waters.
Our boat came to a stop on the edge of a swirling mass of
giant sharks. My wife and daughter pulled on their snorkeling gear as I readied
the camera. As they slipped into the water, an enormous creature slid by the
boat. One thought ran through my head: Am I crazy to bring my family thousands
of miles to come face to face with the largest shark in the world?
Whale sharks have been high
on my list since a 2008 visit to Mexico’s Cabo Pulmo National Park resulted in
a near miss. Since the launch of SEEtheWILD in 2011, this whale shark trip with our partner Reefs to Rockies have been the most popular animals
(apart from sea turtles) that our conservation tourism project promotes and it
was finally time for me to experience it myself.
I knew these animals were big. I’ve seen lots of photos,
read many stories, and heard first-hand accounts of their gigantism. However,
none of that prepared me for the actual sight of a whale shark. From the boat,
their length is astonishing. But once you are in the water, you realize that the
overhead view of these sharks is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Our day started with a talk by our guide, Logan, who has
lived most of her life on Isla Mujeres. Whale sharks are perhaps the leading
attraction of this island, and local operators make sure that every gringo that
arrives knows about the unique opportunity to see them. As Logan made clear,
there is no threat from these sharks; they have no teeth and are not aggressive
to humans.
With their popularity come issues, however, and Logan made
it very clear that touching these animals is strictly off limits. The most
entertaining part of her monologue was a pantomime of the typical first
reaction of people seeing the sharks for the first time – a combination of
shock, wonder, and a bit of fear.
Logan’s prediction of that initial shock was dead on. After
donning my own snorkeling gear and getting my first underwater view, I quickly
lifted my head, needing a second to comprehend what my eyes had just seen. The
whale sharks’ easy grace in the water belies the fact that these animals can be
up to 40 feet long and weigh up to 20 tons.
To maintain such a large size, they spend nearly all of
their time feeding, moving along the surface with their gaping mouths
collecting plankton and fish eggs. The sea near Isla Mujeres is one of a few
different places around the world where whale sharks gather in large groups.
Our group of 10 people rotated in and out of the boat with our two guides every
few minutes, giving everyone several chances to see the sharks from the water.
For all their size, whale sharks are not immune to threats.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature
considers them “vulnerable” to threats such as boat strikes (primarily from larger vessels than the boat we
were on), which can hurt or kill these amazing animals. For years, they were
caught in fisheries in Asia, and they can still be found in some fish markets
around the region.
As these sharks become popular for tourism, new threats are
popping up. In the Philippines, some operators are feeding whale sharks to
attract them, running the risk of altering migration routes. At Isla Mujeres,
when there are few sharks, self-imposed rules go out the window to ensure
tourists get to see these animals up close. Mexican scientists are currently
working to determine the maximum tourism capacity.
Whale sharks can be found around the world in tropical
waters, including Honduras, Taiwan, the Seychelles, and other spots, but Isla
Mujeres has become one of the most popular spots in the world. Whale shark
tourism here has grown dramatically over the past few years. Their feeding
aggregations can draw thousands people per year. There were roughly 30 boats
there on the morning we went out and double that by the time we left. If each
boat had just ten snorkelers, that would mean 300 – 600 people there at one
time. There are reportedly more than 200 boats with permits and quite a few
more that participate illegally.
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| Credit: iStockphoto |
Leading up to this trip, my biggest concern was whether this
crush of people would take away from the experience. Those fears were allayed
one I was in the water. When there is a large aggregation, the water doesn’t feel
crowded with people. Most of the boats enforce a rule that only allows two
people per guide, so the majority of people are in the boats at any given time.
And the large group was spread out enough that we did not see another group of
people nearby during the couple of hours we spent there.
Whale shark tourism, when done right, can be a huge benefit
to the sharks and other animals. Their monetary value creates an incentive to
stop catching them for meat, and Reefs to Rockies designates five percent of
the trip’s cost towards conservation efforts like those of Ecocean, an
organization that helps to research these little-known fish. Snorkelers can
also contribute to a database by uploading their images to the whale shark library, which helps researchers learn
about population dynamics.
Towards the end of my visit, I recorded a video of two
slow-moving sharks swimming to my left. Even with about 10 feet between us, my
camera could only capture part of the sharks in the frame. As they slid by, I
yelled with surprise into my snorkel as my view was suddenly impaired by a
large spotted animal at a very close distance. It was another whale shark,
swimming in the opposite direction came between me and the other sharks.
Nearby, my wife and daughter laughed as I quickly backed out the way of the
large caudal (rear) fin as it passed by.
Maybe my choice of summer family entertainment really was a
little bit crazy, but we wouldn’t trade the memories of this experience for any
amusement park or camping trip.
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