Whale shark Encounter in Mexico

in #travel7 years ago

My alarm went off at 4 o clock yesterday morning.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

My brother had told me that he planned a surprise for the day. We jumped into the car and made our way to the scuba shop which he works at (because "apparently" he had to fetch something from the shop)(Hmm, my suspicion begins to grow). I looked out onto the ocean. It was another beautiful day in Mexico. "Okay Cait, so for your birthday today, we will be snorkeling with whale sharks!" I didn't believe him at first, this can't actually be happening. And what is a whale shark anyways? A whale? A shark?

Well, neither actually. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, weighing in at about 13 tons. These gentle giants are filter feeders, which means that they eat plankton (such as krill and fish eggs). So they are enormous (13 meters in length) but don't have any teeth, and swim on the surface. This makes them the perfect ocean companions to swim side by side with.

In our wet suits, getting ready for the exciting day ahead

Photo 2017-08-16, 09 27 10.jpg

We've spotted them!

Photo 2017-08-16, 14 05 10.png

When you jump into the ocean and you are greeted by this face...

Photo 2017-08-16, 16 33 18.jpg

Just to provide some perspective, look how massive this gorgeous creature is-That's me swimming above her!

whaleshark2.jpg

whaleshark.png

I was in complete awe. There was a moment when the one whale shark was bottling (which means that they stay stationary in a vertical position, kind of like on the above photo). They do this because it makes feeding a lot easier.

I didn't move, I just watched her, and that's when I knew that this was one of the best, most incredible moments of my entire life.

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So cool! I would have loved this so much!

Love your pictures thank you for sharing Caitlin!

Wau is very cool and great

What an incredible birthday surprise!

Nice picture great photography. Happy Birthday.

I'm so jealous about this!!! Glad you had an amaze day Cait xx

Soooo jealous, hopefully you'll join us when you get back to go diving with the seals :)

crazy! but cool

@capetowngirl I'm betting you had some consulting with your brother regarding the whale shark hahaha. It comes out natural to you. The info on the whale doesn't come out like in school. It's interesting when you say it.