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We have had an exceptional start to the 2008 season. There have only been 2 days where we didn’t get to swim with a Whale Shark and that in comparison to most other April starts is fantastic!

Today we swam with 2 sharks, 1 was approx 3 1/2m and the other a little bigger at 4 1/2.

Some dear friends joined our tour today; Vix and Randall have worked in the dive industry up here for some years but are leaving town to move to the big city; Vix decided she wanted to have one last final Whale Shark spot; so went in and did it 4 1/2 months pregnant - so we have now taken claim to having the youngest child EVER swim with a shark lol.

We actually have a lot of pregnant women do the tour - they tell me it’s because they’re making the most of their freedom before having to care for someone around the clock - makes sense!~

“What a fantastic, AMAZING day! 7 snorkels with whale shark - an experience of a lifetime - Thankyou!” Karen and Dave Stratford, Geoff, Anne and Holly

YAY - it’s going off up here on the Ningaloo Reef. The Whale Sharks have been reliable for the most part of this season; out of 7 days they have been sighted every day; although there were 2 days where we were unable to swim with them; as they just didn’t want to know about us.

Tonight myself and our 2 gem spotters - Yoshi and Emily all attended the DEC (Dept of Environment and Conservation)
Whale Shark Interaction Guiding course.

In previous years I didn’t believe it would be necessary for me to attend as I work in the shop; but decided to support ‘the team’ and go this year. I am SO GLAD that I did; I learned so much!!

I have been doing this job for hmm well; this is my 5th season; and I love every second of it! I do wish I got to go on the boat more; but someone has to hold the office together :)

So the night was information packed; DID YOU KNOW that when the last lot of satelling tagging was done on the Whale Sharks; they were recorded going to gepths of 1500m; that is when the tags stopped working!!! How AMAZING is that??

And that big 18m shark that was killed in Taiwan years ago; the one with the 300 babies inside it at ALL DIFFERENT sizes of development; well a few of the babies who were at about 50cm in length were still alive; so they sent them to an underwater observatory in Japan!

Sad about the mother; but we would never have know that the Whale Sharks produce in such a way without the information being recorded.

There is so little known about many of the Whale Sharks characteristics; so I guess any information is useful!

Today we FINALLY got to swim with a Whale Shark! This is made even better that we had some REPEAT passengers on board who missed out on their first tour; thankfully we have the “No Sighting Policy” which meant they got to join us for another tour for FREE! They were ecstatic!

Today was another beautiful day on the reef; with magnificent snorkeling and glorious sunshine!

Again; we spotted a number of Whale Sharks but couldn’t get a swim on them; they were being very uncooperative!

As mentioned in my post yesterday; we rely on them swimming on the surface becasue they want to not becasue they have to; so there are naturally times when it is difficult to get a swim with them.

On a positive the day was magnificent and we had a BRILLIANT snorkel and swam with some turtles and lots of beautiful fish and still finished the day with a chilled glass of champers!

Although dissapointed by the sharks; everyone on board still had a joyful day; basking in the warm Ningaloo sun, swimming in our turquoise water which is still about 28 degrees!

I often read and hear comparisons between the Great Barrier Reef and our own Ningaloo Reef. Some say the GBR can’t be beaten, others that Ningaloo is far superior.

So which offers the best experience?

Honestly - they are both fantastic, and both ‘musts’ for any adventure traveller, whether you’re a seasoned diver or inquisitive snorkeller.

But they are different, and if you have to choose, then the choice is purely personal.

Divers who have dived the GBR won’t rest until they’ve also dived Ningaloo which is considered the “next thing” - and many are frankly blown away by the experience. I have even heard some admit in hushed tones that actually, Ningaloo is right up there with the Great Barrier - I think the tones are hushed because they don’t want to be seen to insult a national icon.

Personally I love Ningaloo because it’s relatively undamaged by the trample of tourist fins. Hordes of overseas visitors have caused a lot of damage to the Great Barrier Reef, and here in Western Australia we hope to learn from this by focusing on ecotourism. We’re very protective of our beautiful reef and strict about educating everyone who ventures into the ocean about looking but not touching.

The reef is also very close to the shore, which means you can wade out to it with your snorkel when the mood takes you - no need to take a long boat trip. This appeals to a lot of independent travellers, who also love the relative uncrowdedness of the region.

Then there’s the light and colours, which are again quite different from the GBR. I’ll leave you with the words one writer chose to describe the Ningaloo shoreline in a recently published article:

“The sheltered shallow waters between the reef and the beach are crystal clear, and the white sand beneath shines through the bright blue, giving the beaches an incandescent quality.”