Coming up, Jonathan visits the Philippines to meet some big, friendly sharks!
Welcome to Jonathan Bird’s Blue World!
The whale shark is the largest fish in the world.
Growing longer than a school bus, the whale shark survives by filter feeding small fish
and plankton from the water.
At the Georgia Aquarium, I saw how these massive animals are fed by hand from a small boat.
I never thought I would see this in the wild!
But 9,000 miles from the Georgia Aquarium, in the Philippines, something amazing is happening.
It takes me two days of travel, but I fly to the city of Dumaguete on the island of
Negros.
I’m picked up by Atlantis Dive Resort, where I’ll be staying for a week of exciting diving.
I get a ride back to the resort in a Jeepney—basically a fancy bus.
I arrive at the beachfront Atlantis resort, dive boats ready for action.
The grounds and pool are gorgeous.
But I’m not here for the pool!
The next morning I’m back on the Jeepney for a day trip adventure.
We drive to the ferry terminal.
Well, we’re taking the ferry to Cebu so we can go see some whale sharks.
And hopefully this ferry can hold our giant bus!
They back the Jeepney onto the ferry along with a bunch of cars and motorcycles, and
we’re on our way to Cebu Island, a short 30 minute ride.
Then everyone drives off the ferry and it’s another half hour to the town of Oslob.
The water around Oslob is clear and blue.
And inhabited by giant sharks.
At the welcome center, we encounter a huge number of people.
As many as a thousand people show up here every day for a glimpse of the whale sharks.
After a briefing, everyone stands around waiting for their group number to be called.
Just offshore, the larger boats with the tourists are lined up in rows.
As I wait my turn, I can see that the larger boats are not very big.
I’m just waiting….with a thousand other people to see a whale shark.
I’m not sure that my camera is going to fit in that boat.
Soon our group number is called, and the Blue World team boards a boat.
I think this camera might sink the boat you guys!
Well, this is the craziest whale shark trip I’ve ever been on.
We paddle out to join the rest of the boats in line.
Feeders, in small boats, parade the sharks in front of the tourists by doling out food.
I put on my mask, fins and snorkel and hop over the side.
With my big camera system, I get into position.
Usually I have to chase whale sharks, swimming as hard as I can to keep up.
But here, they bring them right past me.
The feeders paddle with one hand, and toss krill into the water with the other.
They lead the shark back and forth in front of the tourists.
It’s odd to be able to easily position myself in front of a whale shark to see how it feeds
by gulping enormous volumes of water.
Being a filter feeder, the Whale shark is harmless, even though it’s huge.
There are 8 whale sharks here, wild animals, but happy to accept some food in exchange
for posing for pictures.
I used to joke about chumming for whale sharks, but this really is chumming for whale sharks—and
they love it.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking—yeah, this is kind of cool, but feeding the wildlife
is never a good idea.
And you’re right.
But on the other hand, it was not that long ago that whale sharks were hunted and killed
for food and fins in the Philippines.
In Oslob, a handful of whale sharks may have become somewhat dependent on people for food.
But they’re also acting as ambassadors for their species, allowing a thousand people
every day to actually see and swim with a real whale shark in the ocean.
And in my experience, this causes people to fall in love with whale sharks, which in the
long run is in the best interest of sharks everywhere.
So--in the big picture--I honestly see more good than bad in this.
People are not allowed to touch or harass the sharks, and the sharks come of their own
free will.
This thing is absolute proof that sharks are good for tourism.
They are definitely better off alive than finned and turned into soup.
Given the number of people in the water, I am pretty impressed at how smoothly the whole
operation runs.
It’s fairly organized and a lot of fun.
These big, harmless sharks will convert anyone that can float into a shark lover!