Swimming with whale sharks – a 1 in 3 million opportunity!!!!

On our final day in Ningaloo we say goodbye to our wonderful hosts at the camp which has been our home for the past seven days. Then Neri drives us to Exmouth to the boat pick up point. Everyone in the group is buzzing with excitement, as today, we have the chance to swim with Whale Sharks.

We are met on the jetty by some crew members who introduce themselves and direct us to a motor launch which takes us to the boat which will host our today’s adventure. We climb on board and after a safety briefing, we head out past the reef into the open ocean where the crew say we will have the best chance of finding theses beautiful creatures.

Our boat captain tells us that only 1 in 3 million people in the world will ever experience swimming with Whale Sharks in the wild. It’s a very big ocean so of course there is no guarantee that we will encounter any Whale Sharks today, but the spotter plane is flying high on the lookout for them. It’s been such an amazing holiday and we have seen more natural wildlife than most of us had expected to see so we all feel quietly confident that it will be a good day. The crew equip us with wet-suits, snorkels, masks and fins (flippers) ready for our first encounter and the search for Whale Sharks begins.  

There are sixteen guests in total, our group of eleven plus five others. The crew divide us  into two groups and give us a briefing about how to interact with the whale sharks. “Keep a distance of three metres from the whale shark’s body,” “ Keep four metres from its tail (which is huge) as just one swipe could do some serious damage” “Do not touch them as this can scare them and they will dive” “ No duck diving as this can spook the whale sharks” “Keep in a row near your guide” “Start swimming when you are in line with its gills” “Stop swimming when you see the tail disappearing into the distance” and “ Most of all ….. smile for the camera.”

It’s a lot to take in, but suddenly we realise that a Whale Shark has been spotted and our captain is steering the boat towards it. We hear the shout go out “Group One masks on –Go! Go! Go”. We jump excitedly off the back of the boat into the ocean, scrambling madly to get out of each other’s way and trying (quite unsuccessfully) to form a straight line a metre apart. It’s a bit disorientating and I look around to spot where the Whale Shark is only to realise that I am right on top of it. I try hurriedly to move out of its away but in my rush, I touch it with my hand and even though it’s an accident I feel an immediate pang of guilt for being so stupid. I realise that I’m not the only one in the group who touched it accidentally which makes me feel a little better. Luckily, it’s a juvenile, only about four metres long, and it probably hasn’t encountered humans before, so it isn’t spooked and we snorkel alongside and have a great viewing.

When the shark starts to swim away our guide tells us to stop following it and to swim back to him as we need to save our energy for the next encounter. The boat has taken the second group over to where the Whale Shark has moved to as it’s now their turn to snorkel alongside it. We bob around together in the open ocean, excitedly sharing our experience until the captain turns the boat round and returns to pick us up.

We climb back aboard, just have a chance to take off our masks and fins when the shout goes out again “Group One masks on……. Go! Go! Go!  The plane has spotted another Whale Shark so we’re off for our next encounter. This time it’s much a more organised group entry into the water and another wonderful encounter with a Whale Shark. We know what to expect now, so when it moves away from us and we can no longer swim alongside it we group together waiting for the boat to pick us up. This happens three or four more times throughout our trip, each time the excited cry, each time the entry into the water and each time our one in three million chance to swim with these amazing creatures.

Then, all too soon that part of our experience is over. We come out of the water for the final time and hand back our equipment. The crew set up a delicious buffet lunch, pour the champagne, crank up the music and it’s time to eat, drink and move to the beat.  

Everyone is extremely full, extremely happy and I feel extremely lucky to have had this amazing opportunity. It truly is a once in a lifetime experience which is also tinged with a little sadness that these amazing creatures are now endangered and that, once again humans are responsible for their decline.

Like many of my Gap Year experiences, this has been a special day and the memory will stay with me forever.

I would highly recommend swimming with wild Whale Sharks. Ningaloo Reef really is one of the most special places so if you have the chance to go then I recommend seeing them there. And perhaps ……. You could also try your hand at kayaking and snorkeling the local reef. I guarantee it will be a trip to remember.