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Dive Time with Tim Grollimund
A whale of a good time (maybe)
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Posted - Thursday, November 08, 2012 04:11 PM EST
Tim Grollimund
A juvenile whale shark seeks a handful of shrimp from a fisherman. (Photos by Tim Grollimund)
Anticipation. Like the ketchup falling from the bottle in that old TV commercial, we are anticipating a visit with whale sharks near Oslob, in the Southern Visayas, Philippines. We are on the Philippine Siren running ahead of the wind to a safe harbor.
A major storm is moving through the area. We will loose some diving time. We face strong winds, heavy rain and rough seas the next 36 hours.
As we make our way to the safe harbor, we are all editing, gabbing, napping and eating. This is a Stephen Frink Photo Tour, so as far as I’m concerned I’m in great company with a boatload of like-minded photographers and conservationists.
I came back to the Philippines this year with two objectives. The first was to capture as many quality images as possible for my photo inventory. The second was to swim with whale sharks.
I was a bit on the giddy side since I’ve never enjoyed the company of the largest fish in the sea.
After we evaded the storm, we arrived at the site in the early morning. At 6 a.m., there were already folks in boats and snorkelers in the water with the whale sharks. Prior to the trip, I had read about the history and development of the whale shark opportunities here. Based on what I read, this tiny village just south of Oslob became a popular tourist destination in less than a year. Up to several hundred visitors in one day have come for the whale shark experience.
I can’t imagine hundreds of people in this confined area. That’s about 20 people for every half-hour whale shark segment. There were 14 divers in our group, and to me that was crowded.
As I stood on the boat with my morning coffee and watched the people pile in the boats and head out to the whale sharks, my immediate reaction was, “we are in a whale shark theme park.” Pop in a roller coaster and a hot dog stand, and we have an instant attraction for the entire family. An Imax theatre would be nice, too.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved swimming with the whale sharks. But when I saw what was really going on, my experience in a previous life of helping open a maritime-based educational facility with a theme-park mentality in Norfolk (see Nauticus.org) migrated to the top of my mind. Move em’ in, provide the experience, move ‘em out. Bring in groups. Stock the gift shop and make sure the food is decent. That’s what is going on in Oslob. I believe it’s become more about the peso than the whale shark.
I can’t blame them for developing the tourism business. But I wonder... is there a balance that can be reached?
This new attraction has spawned a great deal of controversy. In the purest sense, the don’t-alter-natural-behavior-of-animals group wants to close it down. The folks in the town want to keep it going, since it has provided additional income for the fishermen and fostered the development of a small hospitality industry in the village.
The local fishermen feed the whale sharks tiny shrimp that rise from the bottom at night. There’s an article by Steve De Neef, who lives nearby, that states they recently depleted the supply of local shrimp. Now they buy their feeder shrimp from somewhere else. Search on his name in www.divephotoguide.com to see his take on this.
In Deep Sea News, there is a good article and some references to the current situation concerning the whale sharks. See http://deepseanews.com/2012/08/whale-shark-ecotourism-epilogue/. Also, take a look at this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/feedinggiants.
I understand the concern about not interfering with the animals. In fact, one of the most popular whale sharks has been injured, and is now blind in one eye. He’s gone now.
I can see that happening. While there are no motors allowed in the sanctuary boundary, the dive boats and our inflatables from the Siren zipped right up to the edge. Whale sharks don’t pay attention to the demarcation lines. Our boat nearly hit one as we were leaving. I remember cringing as I watched a juvenile whale shark approach the boat as we got our motor started. We could have easily injured this curious and friendly giant. He was only about fifteen feet long — a mere child.
Whale sharks take about 25 to 30 years to mature. They are listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Studies on whale sharks are still few and far between. In one instance, a pregnant female was examined, and over 300 embryonic offspring were found. They were in different stages of development, but all came from the same father. It is thought that the female stores the sperm and fertilizes the eggs as she produces them.
Another study looked at DNA among different regions, and found there is little differentiation among the regions — they migrate great distances and interact with animals from other regions.
Whale sharks are also deep divers — as deep as 1,000 feet for sustained periods. They come to the surface to warm them selves, and of course, to gorge on plankton or fish eggs. I wonder what they do on those deep dives.
Overall, it was a very interesting experience. My emotions are still mixed. I can’t say it was a great experience since it was staged — like a reality TV show — and not in the wild, as it should be. I didn’t think that would bother me. But it did. And still does.
Tim Grollimund is a freelance photographer and PADI divemaster based in Key Largo. He can be reached at tim@timgimages.com or through his web site at www.timgimages.com. Tim is actively involved with the Coral Restoration Foundation and the Aquarius Foundation.