ANOTHER WHALE SHARK ENCOUNTER !
i walked up to BICA, the Bay Island Conservation Association, where i volunteered for a month in 2011. it was closed. just then, Loretta, the Vet arrived and i talked with her a minute. she confirmed that they had no funding and that only 2 people were there occasionally; everyone had gone elsewhere. it's really sad, it was a pretty active organization ... hopefully, someone is working on grants to get it opened again. they were the ones doing the patrolling to keep people from illegal fishing and eating turtles ... :( ...i wonder who is doing that now ? anyway, i won't be helping them out either ...
i asked Loretta if they were still having their Spay/Neuter Clinics on Tues, and that i wanted to help again if i could. but she is going to the States for a couple of weeks, so i won't be doing that either :(
had some lunch back home, packed, and walked to the Whale Shark office to see if they were having another boat today. they were, but the needed 1 more person. i tried recruiting, but had no luck. i did talk to a couple, who recognized me from 2 yrs ago, when they were here and i took them out on a Whale Shark boat ..... unfortuntately we didn't see anything, ...but, amazingly, they remembered me ...
Lucie said the good news was that we were going out on the boat anyway. i made a huge mistake by not asking her ahead of time if i could join them today. when i showed up, she wasn't prepared for me to go ... she said i could go, but i knew i'd 'done wrong' :(
this time we headed out around the island in the other direction. once we got out beyond the islands, it was pretty rough ... we'd gone about half way, when Capt Albert spotted a boil, and he moved in. i was in the second group again. the first group jumped, but the timing was off and they didn't see it. Albert found the boil again, and the first group went in again ... this time, they had a GREAT encounter ... i need to get in the first group :)
they got to watch the Whale Shark actually eating ! ...this is my 'new' dream :)
but, our group got our turn too. however, as soon as we got in the water, the Whale Shark didn't stay around long, and dove down .. and it was gone. i got this video before it left:
Lucie was concerned that possibly we had annoyed it, and she called it quits for the day ... it was the right decision for the welfare of the Whale Sharks. the Whale Shark organization (WSORC) is very careful about setting a good example by following the approved Guidelines for swimming with the Whale Sharks. many of the dive boats, aren't as good about following the rules ...
--only one boat with the Whale Shark at a time
--only snorkeling ... no scuba equipment
--only 8 people in the water at one time
--remain 3meters from the head, and 4 from the 'swinging' tail
--no touching, riding, etc. ... seems obvious, but .. :(
--no flash on cameras
i got home, did all the necessary 'chores' with my equipment, ... by then it was 6:30. i was going to go to Thai Friday dinner. but, it's about a 25min walk and i figured by the time i got there, it would be too late....., so i started working on my blog ... Valentines Day night .... can i say Bah Humbug? i sat here ... in my nice little apartment, and had a couple rum and cokes.
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