For more pictures follow the below link.
We’ve spent the past 3 nights in a nice little campervan park about 20km north of Exmouth, which is on a peninsula with both the Cape Range National Park and the northern end of the Ningaloo Reef. The Ningaloo Reef is sensational! You can snorkel with beautiful coral and all kinds of colorful fish (and sharks!) right off the beach.
One of the big things that the Reef is known for this time of year are the Whale Sharks that come in every year. They come in because the coral spawn in April (10-12 days after the full moon) and this increases the krill and plankton in the ocean which attracts the whale sharks. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea, and when we found out we were going to be in the area at this time of year, we decided to book a tour to swim with them. There are a lot of groups that have tours, but we went with Ningaloo Blue, which we would highly recommend. They are all expensive, but we talked to a few other people who did tours with other groups and they were pretty disappointed; we weren’t. J See our pictures! We went out for the day and Tony swam with one whale shark (then got a bit sea sick) and Erika swam with 3; they were magnificent!! As soon as Erika jumped in with her snorkel gear and camera ready, a 5 metre one was coming right at her and it was absolutely exhilarating. This one was swimming fast so instead of taking a picture, she got out of the way (a wise move). However, she did get a few really great pictures after the initial fright. They are truly majestic animals and it was an amazing experience. Two of the three she swam with were moving quite fast but the last one was crusing nice and easy and was not camera shy. Check out all the fish that are swimming along with him; whale sharks bring friends.
A few facts about the whale shark: The largest one ever found was 19 metres and it was found near the Philippines. The average size of most whale sharks is 4 to 7 metres. Whale sharks are filter feeders that eat millions of tiny plankton, so they are not dangerous to swim with (other than their great size and weight, which could hurt you if you are positioned in the wrong place). Each whale shark is distinguished by the spotting behind their gills. Nigaloo Reef is the only place in the world they are found with regularity.
After the day out with the whale sharks, we did lots of snorkeling (if you will ever be in the area, Oyster Stacks and Turquoise Bay are 2 great snorkel spots) and a short hike in the national park. There were lots of animals, but most of them came out at dusk and seemed to walk across the roads too often. We saw a goanna; dozens of both red and grey kangaroos; rock wallabies way up on a rocky ledge; an echidna; some very large eagles (that were feeding on the roo carcasses on the side of the road); and hundreds of tropical fish in the water. Tony also spotted a reef shark sitting at the bottom of a coral stack, but Erika didn’t care to go back to check it out!
Other than that, we spend our nights trying to catch the sunsets; cooking dinner on the shared BBQ (grill for the Americans reading this); enjoying the millions of stars that are visible with so few lights around; and looking back at our pictures from the day and talking about how lucky we are.
One of the big things that the Reef is known for this time of year are the Whale Sharks that come in every year. They come in because the coral spawn in April (10-12 days after the full moon) and this increases the krill and plankton in the ocean which attracts the whale sharks. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea, and when we found out we were going to be in the area at this time of year, we decided to book a tour to swim with them. There are a lot of groups that have tours, but we went with Ningaloo Blue, which we would highly recommend. They are all expensive, but we talked to a few other people who did tours with other groups and they were pretty disappointed; we weren’t. J See our pictures! We went out for the day and Tony swam with one whale shark (then got a bit sea sick) and Erika swam with 3; they were magnificent!! As soon as Erika jumped in with her snorkel gear and camera ready, a 5 metre one was coming right at her and it was absolutely exhilarating. This one was swimming fast so instead of taking a picture, she got out of the way (a wise move). However, she did get a few really great pictures after the initial fright. They are truly majestic animals and it was an amazing experience. Two of the three she swam with were moving quite fast but the last one was crusing nice and easy and was not camera shy. Check out all the fish that are swimming along with him; whale sharks bring friends.
A few facts about the whale shark: The largest one ever found was 19 metres and it was found near the Philippines. The average size of most whale sharks is 4 to 7 metres. Whale sharks are filter feeders that eat millions of tiny plankton, so they are not dangerous to swim with (other than their great size and weight, which could hurt you if you are positioned in the wrong place). Each whale shark is distinguished by the spotting behind their gills. Nigaloo Reef is the only place in the world they are found with regularity.
After the day out with the whale sharks, we did lots of snorkeling (if you will ever be in the area, Oyster Stacks and Turquoise Bay are 2 great snorkel spots) and a short hike in the national park. There were lots of animals, but most of them came out at dusk and seemed to walk across the roads too often. We saw a goanna; dozens of both red and grey kangaroos; rock wallabies way up on a rocky ledge; an echidna; some very large eagles (that were feeding on the roo carcasses on the side of the road); and hundreds of tropical fish in the water. Tony also spotted a reef shark sitting at the bottom of a coral stack, but Erika didn’t care to go back to check it out!
Other than that, we spend our nights trying to catch the sunsets; cooking dinner on the shared BBQ (grill for the Americans reading this); enjoying the millions of stars that are visible with so few lights around; and looking back at our pictures from the day and talking about how lucky we are.
Amazing, amazing, amazing!! Whale Sharks - how does one keep from taking in water, when the gasp of "OMG" happens!?
ReplyDeleteSo, glad you "swam" with them... thought I'd send this poem about the lonely shark.
Keep having fun,
MOM and Bill
Lonely and friendless,
The days seemed so endless
For the poor little shark in the pool.
There was just him, with
Nobody to swim with
In the water so fresh and so cool.
Only him, all alone,
Swimming round on his own,
Rejected, abandoned, forsaken,
Though up on the edge,
‘Neath the palm-fronded hedge,
The loungers all seemed to be taken.
But the children stayed dry,
He could not fathom why
Those humans stayed out of the water.
Whene’er one came near,
The mother, in fear,
Would snatch up their son or their daughter.
He’d no cause to harm them!
His grin would soon charm them,
And then he would not be so lonely.
If only they’d get in
Just suffer a wettin’,
If only, if only, if only.
But no-one jumped in
So the solit’ry fin
Just circled around in the water.
A triangular marker,
Like graphite but darker,
Like the sail of a yacht, only shorter.
Lonely and friendless,
The days seemed so endless
For the poor little shark in the pool.
There was just him, with
Nobody to swim with
In the water so fresh and so cool.