Day 20

Day 20 - Exmouth
Whale Sharks!!!

On Board

on Board

Well they picked us up at 7 am on a glorious day. The wind was light from the east and not a cloud in the sky. We booked through Exmouth Dive Centre and on reflection of the day, they could not have been better or more accommodating. The day started at the dive shop where they fitted Maureen out for Fins and wetsuit, she had her own mask due to the corrective lenses. We were then bussed down to the boat ramp and transferred out to the charter boat. The crew for the day was James (skipper), Kelsy, Fiona and Jess. The girls were to be our guides for the day. You get a briefing on what to expect and what you have to do. The plan is to take everyone out to do a short snorkel dive to see how people cope with the snorkelling gear and getting in and out, then go out looking for Whale Sharks. I retired upstairs to the fly bridge with James and spent the day up there and got some of the best views. 

Dressed for action

Causing a stir - pick Maureen

On the way out to the snorkel we saw a couple of whales and everyone was oohing and arring and then we got to the snorkel sight and in they went, within seconds of them all getting in Maureen had them all guessing as she was waving to me in case I could not see her and all the crew thought she was waving in trouble! That settled down and seconds later we spotted 2 whales approaching the group and they swam right in amongst the group. James was beside himself as he says this never happens. Away the group went for a snorkel and blow me down I spotted another pair of whales approaching the group and again they swam into the group. At this point James was jumping around like a kid and running up and down the deck directing swimmers. A group of dolphins approached but they did not come close. They were a weird dolphin in that they have a very small dorsal fin, James did tell me what they were but I forgot.

Whales amongst swimmers

Whales amongst swimmers

As divers were returning, up swam a Manta Ray and swam around the group as well as a small Tiger Shark. Every time they would recall the group one of these things would happen and James would yell out for everyone to turn around and get in the water. We finally had everyone on board when I pointed out a pack of 4 Manta Rays do loop the loop off to our Left side (Port Side I know but though I would keep the terms for land lubbers) James goes off again and starts telling everyone to get ready to go back in while he turns the boat around but they disappeared before we could get there. Again James is just ecstatic, never before on the trial snorkel dive has there been so much action.

Maureen had got used to the snorkelling very quickly ( I would say like a duck to water, but I am not

Whales approaching

Maureen approaching

going to call her a duck!) unlike some who were a little timid and not too confident. They split the divers into 2 groups as you can only have a maximum of 10 divers around the shark at any time, so when a shark was spotted we would swoop in drop off group 1, give them a swim and then they would drop off and we would drop in group 2 then pick up group 1 and so on. The spotter plane was up and we were watching whales as they crew said it could take up to 2 hours to spot a whale shark, when about 10 minutes later the plane said it had a pair of sharks already. We were directed to our first whale shark, group 1 went and off they went, group 2 was dropped off and we went round to pick up group 1 but the shark turned around and swam back towards group 1, so group 2 tagged out and let group 1 take over and then the whale shark did the same thing. It went on for ages with each group taking turns with the shark.

Maureen returning

Whale Shark under the boat

We eventually called everyone back on board and went to another shark spotted that was bigger. Off we went and dropped our groups onto the shark, each group got a shot before it dove down deep. Listening to the radio between the spotter plane and the boat, they had the choice of about 6 sharks all within a short distance. We chose another shark and went to him, again dropping off the groups, by this time many were starting to feel the pinch and the groups were getting smaller each time until we were down to one group of 8 left following the shark who seemed to take no notice of them. He started to go deeper and we pulled Maureen and the 7 out of the water.

Whale Shark under Boat

Baby Whale next to Boat

It was now well after 1:30 and we headed back to the channel entrance for a final snorkel dive whilst eating lunch on the way there. The crew asked if I could manage a snorkel if they helped me. I was in on that, they found mask and fins and although I said I needed no help once in, they continued to be with me throughout. I had a wonderful snorkel around some bombies, brought back a lot of memories. I could definitely not have done the shark dives but that snorkel was wonderful – thank James and the girls.

We got back on board and headed back to the jetty, Maureen was exhausted! We got back to the camp ground and had dinner – prawns with Rum and Pepsi Max! The day was another day full of wows on our adventure. Tomorrow we pack up and head to Coral Bay.

It was a magic day as the first whale shark was virtually floating on the surface and kept staying in close to us , in fact it was at times very hard to stay the required 3 metres away from it as  it kepted wimming at us. It wa very gracefull and seemed to be vry curious about  us. The next two were a bit deeper down in the water  and eventually went down deep wheren it as hard to see them. The day started at 7 and we got back to the caravan at 4:30 but the dy flew by. It cost me $330 and Drew $200 and something but it was definitely worth it. I am very tired. Tierder than after the City to Surf and have had tea, cleaned up , showered, hang out a load of washing and now at 7:30 I am off to bed!!! Tomorrow we can  get some pictures from today from the Exmouth Dive put on a stick so may have some pictures and a bit more energy to tell u more. Love to all, Maureen.xxxxxxx