Whale Sharks 2012
by Michael Lewis
Every summer brings the whale sharks to waters north of Isla Mujeres and north and east of Isla Holbox. A vibrant tourism industry has surround the discovery of this huge fish nearly ten years ago. Last year we saw quite a few. This year’s trip we could count the whale sharks on one hand, and this is the sad theme of this story.
We did the trip from Isla last year and had an amazing experience. We told our friends, who are on Cozumel this week, to take a day or two off from diving and do a whale shark trip. Of course, you can drive to Holbox, but it seems the sharks have shown up in greater numbers in the blue waters of the Caribbean and are not as plentiful in the green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. That means from Cozumel it is better to stay a couple of nights on Isla Mujeres, or you take day trips from Punta Sam, north of the Cancun hotel zone. Since everyone had hotel accommodations arranged on Cozumel, we opted for the day trip.
Here is what we told our friends to get them up for the trip. Usually, after about 45 minutes you arrive in a spot in the open ocean where hundreds of whale sharks are cruising the surface, scooping up fish eggs, plankton and anything edible that gets in their way (except humans). While there might be 40 – 50 boats with 6 – 10 tourists each, the boats are spread out and everyone has lots of room to jump in as a shark heads toward the boat and swim into position for a close encounter. After one would glide by, you hang out until the next one came your way. Everyone on the boat was in the water for 15-20 minutes three times. Then we headed back to Isla for a little snorkel/ceviche/beer break. We were off the boat by 1:00 or 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a great trip. So good, that we wanted to do it again.
This time, we cruised for three hours, traveling more than 25 miles NNE of Isla, listening to lots of radio chatter and scanning the open, apparently empty, ocean. The captain explained, “They aren’t hungry today.” The snorkel guide on the boat said that this summer they have noticed that between 100 and 200 sharks will be on the surface feeding for two to three days straight, then – nada. Unfortunately, we hit the “No Sharks Today” cruise. To the captain’s credit, he stayed out until the radio finally crackled around noon with a sighting. This is where it got exciting, then went downhill – quickly!
Since there were around 30 boats getting skunked, they all converged on two or three smaller whale sharks. lined up and put their people in the water, three-at-a-time. For a few moments it was orderly, then the guides and captains lost control of their clients. Tourist and guides were jumping on top of people from other boats, swimming to and on top of the sharks. People were pushed underwater, pushed into the whale shark, kicked in the head and were literally crawled over by other snorkelers. The boats started jockeying for position and we witnessed two near misses between boats and swimmers. Several of us declined to our third turn in the water since the pressure on the lone shark (no pun intended) seemed unhealthy for the shark and the humans.
It didn’t feel majestic and uplifting. It felt pathetic.
While we were disappointed to have an off-day with the whale sharks, we were more disappointed with the behavior of the humans. It was not a pretty sight, and we left the area more than a little disgusted with our experience. While a couple of our friends who were doing it for the first time said the whale sharks were amazing, they were put off by the overall experience and summed it up by saying, “I don’t have to do that again.”
There will always be off-days for encounters with our natural world. There are no guarantees that whale sharks will show up, that spotted eagle rays will glide by or that you will be in the right place at the right time when the deer turn into elk (Colorado joke).
I am reluctant to return and do it again. The price, in so many ways, is just too high. After eight hours (three of it beating into the wind and waves) several of us felt like we had been pummeled with whiffle ball bats. We are not saying don’t go, but we do advise that, if you care about the quality of your experience, do some research before booking your trip.
ASK THESE THREE QUESTIONS BEFORE BOOKING
1) What kind of boat will you hire? Ask to see the boat if you are already here or ask to see photos on the web. If an operation doesn’t have a photo of their boat, I would avoid them. Our day was more than eight hours long and the boat was a little small, slow and cramped for nine people. Last year our boat was larger, faster and more comfortable in the 3 foot plus swells that we endured.
2) Look at the operator’s web site. How committed are they to the government rules concerning behavior towards and distance from the whale sharks? How long have they been in business?
3) Has there been an off-day? Have they seen hundreds for 2-3 days in a row? Is it near a full moon (they appear to be more active around a full moon since there seems to be more food in the water). You can’t predict when the whale sharks will feed, but you can try to maximize your chances.
Many thanks to good friend and great photographer Stephen Ramsey for his photos.
