Mafia Island 2: Whale Sharks

Off the coast of Tanzania lies one of the best wildlife experiences I have ever had.

At 7:00am, we got in the boat and headed out. After about 3 minutes, we were told to get our snorkels and flippers on and to get ready to get in. By now we had seen the fins of some of the sharks, but we had no idea what we were in for. We were the first mizungus (white people) on the ocean, and the other people were fishermen who had no interest in the whale sharks and tried to stay clear of them because if they went in the nets they would tear and whale sharks can be dangerous when you are in a boat made from one tree trunk.

When we got in the water, we started swimming but missed the first one but instead of going back to the boat we were told to go to the left. When we had got about five meters to the left, we saw our first whale shark tail as we were not fast enough to see the shark. Then as we swam more, we saw another one. This one was whole. It was murky, and the whale shark was quite deep so it was not that impressive, but as it was our first one we found it amazing.

After that, we saw a few other whale sharks and then got in the boat and went to the next spot. This time there were more whale sharks, and we saw some really big ones. I panicked twice when I was swimming back to the boat and I saw a whale shark coming towards me with its mouth open. Although the whale shark does not eat humans, its mouth opens a meter wide so I could have easily swam in.

Chasing the whale sharks was also fun as they only swim at 3 miles an hour and surface and then go under so you can see them from above. The whale sharks have gills behind their heads, and when it is passing you actually see the size of the gills and the length of the shark.

FUN FACTS WHALE SHARK:

1. A whale shark in swahili is papa putwe.
2. Females our bigger than males.
3. Whale sharks are the biggest fish.
4. Whale sharks live in water hotter than 27 degrees.
5. Whale sharks have a camouflage of random stripes and dots.
6. Whale sharks are known as gentle giants.
7. Whale sharks have a lifespan of 70-150 years.
8. A whale shark can filter 6,000 liters of water through its gills in an hour.
9. Only 10% of Whale sharks born make it to adulthood.
10. A female gives birth to 300 whale sharks a year.

As an example of how calm whale sharks are, at one time I was told to jump out the boat so I jumped and landed on top of the whale shark and had to huddle against the boat so the sharks tail would not hit me as that is the only part of the shark that is dangerous.