“There….. go,go,go”. I didn’t even have to think about it. I took a deep breath and jumped.

 It didn’t occur to me to be scared or nervous. The idea of jumping into an unknown ocean with a 40ft shark perhaps should have worried me more, but the adrenaline kicked in and that was that. 

A lot of the work done here is waiting and looking, scanning the ocean for shapes and changes in colour. Every once in a while someone will shout “turtle” or “dolphin”, and it will be noted in the log, but what we’re really after is a whale shark, and when one is spotted you have to be ready. If the boat is going one way, and the shark the other, you can lose sight of it pretty quickly, so the first job is for somebody to get in the water and ‘mark’ the location. In this case, that somebody happened to be me.

So in I went. Being completely honest, I forgot everything I knew about snorkelling and tried to inhale whilst still 2m under the surface. Smooth. Remembering that air is normally prefereable to water when it comes to breathing, I kicked towards the surface and took a deep breath to steady myself. I knew roughly which direction our quarry was located, and wasted no further time in kicking my fins towards it. At first I could see nothing; visibility at this time of year is limited to about 10-15m. Then, like some mythical beast appearing through the gloom, I spotted my first whale shark.

At this point I would just like to give any of you who still think of whale sharks as “just big fish” a quick biology 101. The Whale Shark, or Rhincodon typus, to give it it’s proper title, can be up to 20m in length, although more commonly between 10-15m when fully grown. At up to 45,00o lbs, it is by far and away the largest fish in the world. It has no bones; it’s skeletal structure is made from cartilage, and, thankfully, its teeth are tiny and not used for feeding. I was particularly thankful of this last fact, but nevertheless it is still a powerful animal and respect has to be shown at all times. There are important guidelines on swimming with the whale sharks:- Never swim in front or block its path; stay at least 3m from the body and 4m away from the tail fins at all times. Trying to remember all of these, and also to breathe, I made the last few strokes.

I suddenly remember what I was supposed to do, and I stuck my arm in the air and waved it around, indicated to the boat that i was with the shark. As I did so, I saw Rachel, one of the resident Marine biologists with the programme and all round star, was next to me, camera in hand. Now the work could begin. The mainstay of the MWSRP’s work is identifying whale sharks and measuring their size, and I watched as photos were taken from both sides. My job done, I concentrated on enjoying the experience.

I dived down towards the shark. I would later learn that he had been named Orlando by the team, a young male frequently spotted in the area. At under 7m in length, he is on the small side, but non of that registered with me as I stared across at a fish the same size as a minibus. To me, he was huge. I appreciate ‘huge’ may seem like a bit of an inane description, but pictures and video just don’t do these animals justice. It is a real privilege to be in the water with them.

All to soon, we had reached the reef drop-off and with it the point at which we could follow. Orlando glided into the deep blue, and I watched him all the way. We climbed back onto the boat to ice-cold coronas and high fives all round! ‘What do you think then Jay? Pretty awesome,aye?,” Adam asked me. I couldn’t quite put into words what I was feeling, so I settled for a happy grin and drank my beer.