D O N S O L
God: “Just send us one whale
shark.” I figure if anyone could
coax the gentle giant from
the depths of the sea, it's God.
Forty minutes later, with the
waves slapping against the
underside of our boat, our
Butanding Information Officer
(BIO) yells, “Get in the water!”
It seems my whale wish has
come true.
The butanding swims close
to the surface and comes
alongside me, with just two
meters separating his fin and
my right thigh. He’s beautiful,
all 23ft of him, with his wide
flat head, small eyes set on
either side of his head and pale
yellow spots all over his dark
gray body. His mouth opens
in a slight smile as he feeds on
plankton — quite a harmless
choice of chow considering a
whale shark’s mouth with its
roughly 350 rows of tiny teeth
can stretch up to five feet wide.
I squeal into my mask —
being in the presence of a
massive creature in the wild
will do that to you. Then
I take in every detail: the
butanding’s sun-dappled skin,
his gills undulating with every
breath, the bit of rope around
his tail (he had been caught
somewhere but managed to
escape) and the slow, graceful
way he moves in the water. At
one point I swim away, fearing
I’ve come too close. Then 20
minutes later, so does he.
Back on land, we’re told that
our group was the only one to
swimwith the whale sharks
that day. “What a privilege,”
my husband says of our
audience with the butanding.
It was worth the wait.
68
From top left:
a guide surveys
the sea for
butanding; dive
in when the guide
tells you to; on
a clear day, you
can feast your
eyes on these
creatures, spots
and all
His mouth opens in a slight smile
as he feeds on plankton — quite a
harmless choice of chow...
SUMMER UNDERWATER
DOUBLE FEATURE
Donsol Eco Tour organizes
trips around the Bicol region.
tel: +63 2 893 8173 or +63
917 506 3554, email: info@
donsolecotour.com, www.
donsolecotour.com
PHOTOS
TOMMY SCHULTZ
