A Whale of a Time on the Aqua Blu!

Today was an amazing day, full of incredible wildlife encounters – and its only day 3!!!  We are already loving our time on board – and I definitely see more of these types of trips in our travel future!

We started before dawn with a 5am wake-up call, ready to leave the boat at 5.30am.  Our mission – to find the world’s largest fish – the whale shark!  We had moored up in a place called Saleh Bay where the whale sharks have learned to hang out by the fishing skiffs and to guzzle up the fish sweepings that are sluiced from the deck.  Dean had told us the night before, during our pre-dinner preview of the next day’s activities, that they have a 100% record of guests seeing the whale shark – so there was at least a decent chance we’d get to see one of these gentle giants of the sea.

It was a short tender ride out from the boat to one of the several skiffs fishing in the bay.  Our guide leapt adroitly from our tender onto the boat and, after a quick conversation with the fishermen, indicated there were no whale shark sightings so far.  We headed to another nearby skiff – and the same result.  Whomp whomp.  As we headed off to the third skiff, I did wonder if we were going to be the unlucky souls who would break Dean’s 100% streak – but it was not to be!  Third time was a charm and the presence of the whale shark became very obvious, very quickly!!  Just off the back of the skiff, where chummy and fish scummy water cascaded into the sea, there it was – the largest mouth of any fish I’ve ever seen!!  And yes, we were in our swimsuits and snorkels so all eagerly got off the boat and very carefully positioned ourselves at the recommended distance of at least 3-5 meters from the fish.

Oh my word.  It was amazing.  I’m sorry that I don’t have any photos to share (I don’t have either an underwater camera or a case for my phone, so grabbed this one off the internet) – but they probably wouldn’t have done the experience justice anyway.  This thing was ENORMOUS – at least 7 m long – and apparently that’s only a juvenile!!  It was a very moving experience to be in the presence of such a creature – and then very disconcerting as it moved away from the fish fountain and headed straight for you!!!  Even though they pose absolutely no risk to you whatsoever, I challenge anyone not to squeak out “SHIT SHIT SHIT!” as this GIANT fish swooped past you with about a foot to spare!  It was close enough to touch – but, of course, we were asked to refrain from touching them as there are oils in our fingertips that can be damaging to their skin.  For the first 10 mins or so, it stayed fairly still, in a vertical position (just like the picture) for a gravity-assist to the plankton & krill filter feeding process.  However, after a while, the fish has to return to a horizontal and swimming position so that it can breathe properly, and so our observing suddenly became a lot spicier and exciting as this fish started swimming down and around us!  And then a second one turned up!!  This one was smaller than the first, so was even younger – maybe a mere 4m in length!!  It was just incredible.  Two of these graceful giant beauties, totally un-phased by our presence, just hanging out and feeding, and doing drive-by’s probably just to mess with us!  Given the concentration of fishy detritus in the water (most of which went in my hair), you could totally understand how it has become a symbiotic relationship – and whale sharks are now protected from hunting, so that, at least, is a positive.   The biggest threat to their survival- all the plastics and microplastics in the ocean.  As filter feeders, they have no defense against the plastic that ends up in their stomachs – they can’t digest it and so eventually starve to death if too much builds up.  One way you can help – support non-profit organizations like 4Ocean who are dedicated to reducing the amount of plastic waste in the oceans (HERE)

After about 30mins, it was time to head back to the boat and to get some breakfast – cue lashings of hot coffee.  Later that morning we had a presentation about the whale shark and learned more about these incredible creatures.  Then it was time for another tasty lunch and in the afternoon, our first snorkel of the trip – exploring the coral reef around the island of Satonda.  We were given our own masks and snorkels (designated with a little label so you could set yours up to your liking) and fitted up for flippers – sorry, fins.  At 2pm, we all piled into the tenders (Aqua staff had thoughtfully grouped all the kids together in the other tender) and we headed towards Satonda island.  A little way off the shoreline, the tender stopped and it was time for us to jump out of the boat and start our snorkeling.  As you might know, I’m not the world’s strongest swimmer so I’m always a bit nervous in the water – but one of the tenders was always pretty close by and if you wanted to finish early, you could simply raise your hand and they would come get you.

The snorkeling itself was very nice – lots of fish, some brightly colored, which was a great visual contrast to the brown and creams of the coral reef.  Sorry for the lack of pictures – but I forgot to bring a waterproof camera – BUT I am hoping to get some videos from Courtney, a professional content creator (@contentcreationbycourtney) who had a Go Pro to hand.    We were scheduled to spend about an hour exploring, led by one of the guides, and we saw several green turtles swimming around (not as big as the ones we saw in the Galapagos, however!).  I didn’t quite make it for the full hour, though, as I did get quite cold so I bailed about 10 mins before the time was up.  I also hadn’t quite got the hang of my snorkel mask though – it was so tight across my forehead and upper lip, it was starting to give me a headache, so I think definite adjustments will be needed tomorrow.  It took a solid hour for the snorkel line to undivot itself from my forehead!!  On getting back to the boat, I warmed myself up with a hot chocolate (always a good idea after snorkeling) and quickly prepared for our next excursion – kayaking on Satonda lake!

We docked on the island and took a short walk to the center of the island were there was a huge lake, formed inside a volcanic caldera.  The water was a mix of fresh and seawater and so we spent about 15 mins paddling about in a kayak.  To be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot to look at – but just the experience of tooling around on a lake in an old volcano was pretty cool.  On our way back to the boat, after kayaking, we were fortunate enough to witness the release of a baby turtle that had been rescued from a fisherman’s net.  Interesting fact: when you release turtles, you HAVE to release them onto a beach and NOT into the water directly.  This is so they can imprint onto the beach, where it is, so they will then know where to come back and nest.  If you release them directly into the ocean, then they will not be able to form that memory.

After the kayaking, we had a bit of downtime before heading upstairs to watch the sunset, while enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail.  Tonight, Dean had also promised us bats!  And, though they were a little later than expected, he still delivered – one minute there was just one flappy thing in the sky up above us, the next minute there was a constant stream of them!!!  They were fruit bats and leave Satonda each evening to head for the island directly opposite to find fruit to eat – and they were BIG!!  Much bigger and flappier than the little bats we get at home!!  It was pretty tricky to get any decent pictures, but if you look closely at the video below, you should be able to make them out!  It was another memorable wildlife experience – and a great way to finish off what had been a terrific day.