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Whale Shark Research Paper

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Gentle Giants Of The Deep: Swimming With Sharks
Behind the scenes of an unexpected whale shark adventure
24th May 2013
By Dwayne Delevingne
This morning began with a sense of anticipation. It was our third, and final day in Utila, meaning my last chance to catch a glimpse of the beautiful gentle giant along the coasts of the Caribbean. I have been diving many times, in many places, for the last 5 years, but never had the fortune of seeing a whale shark. Not even in Utila, which is where they tend to travel past as part of their tropical migratory feeding pattern.

Apart from whale sharks, the past few days diving here in Utila was hands down amazing. I could not imagine a healtheir reef system anywhere on this planet, nor one that draws such …show more content…
I always wondered to myself with a heavy heart, when would it be my turn? Well, all of that changed this morning when the captain said he had a feeling that today would be whale shark day. It was a warm day, with the air being heavy and humid. The weather was typical for a whale shark encounter. I was all ready, all ready to realise my long-held dream: to swim with the biggest fish in the sea. And hence, we began our journey.

We completed our first dive, and slowly motored our way to our next dive site, anxiously anticipating whale sharks. However, the captain said that it was a quiet afternoon, where no sitings were made yet. It was getting late, we had to go for our final dive. It was a pleasant, spotting moray eels and nemos!

Despite that, I felt a heavy heartedness as we headed back to shore. There was a sense of emptiness within me as I wondered about the gentle giants. We passed by a local fishing boat and out of the blue, heard startling screams from the fishermen. I could not make of what they were so worked up about, but as I listened carefully, this was what I …show more content…
Shark! Whale Sharks! They’re here! They’re here!”

And there we see, the sea, flat calm as a lake, exploded with thousands of jumping fish feeding on baitfishes…Suddenly, something happened. Under our boat, in the beautiful blue crystal waters, a giant fish, likened to a school bus full of dark spots, elegantly yet silently drifted passed us without touching us. It made our boat seem so tiny, it made me scared, it made me nervous. Is this actually happening? I thought to

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