Squeezing Every Moment Out Here!

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Life wastes itself whilst we are preparing to live. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good morning everybody! I am lying on my oceanfront lounger, coffee in hand, and laptop on my lap typing you my blog. We are enjoying our last few days here. To say we don't want to go home is an under-understatement but one cannot be too greedy right?! I think summering on the shores of the Caribbean here or around Playa will be a yearly thing for us. Great fun, great food, R&R, culture and all around A plus experiences we've had. There are private oceanfront homes in Akumal that would be worth considering where it's very quiet and you are one with nature but close to all the amenities of Playa.

Yesterday as you know by now from the videos we uploaded was a day that will forever be embedded in Lara & Al's minds. The excitement was palpable around here! Excitement and anxiety was thick in the air...

"There's more fish in the sea" is an old true saying, but there's none bigger than the whale shark which is the largest fish in the world. They have fish tendancies; no SHARK tendancies. (We know a few of you are wondering about the decision to do this, but that's why we listed the reasons and websites for you to read about and understand. Keep in mind I don't even let the kids walk to school alone; so that tells you how "hands on" we are but also tells you, that we always weigh the risks versus the benefits and this one, won hands down. Whale sharks do not attack humans. They are so gentle; much like dolphins, playful and known to allow divers to catch a ride which is frowned upon with any type of wildlife.

Anyhow, we spent considerable time talking to different divers, and the risk was SO minimal for an experience of a lifetime.) Now that that is out of the way...here goes the specifics.

The tour operator that we finally settled turned out to be a great choice. The agents we met on the beach have a contract with Contoy Tours (these same agents are the ones who take Martha out deep sea fishing.)

The tour was professional, well-priced (about $100 less than other tour companies; my motto that "it pays to shop around" paid off this time), it was safe and fun yet with a huge emphasis on showing respect for the whale sharks and following such rules as: going in two at a time with your guide, no touching the whales, keeping a safe distance of 1-2 meters so the fish can enjoy it's feeding, no diving equipment (bubbles can scare them), only bio-degradable sunblock. T-shirts were sold at the end of the tour along with your own videos of your swim with the whale sharks and a portion of this goes towards protecting these magnificent creatures.

Once they arrived, they were given a number with would tell them which boat they are on. There were 9 other people on the boat; mostly women and two teenagers (Lara included!). The guide asked who wanted to go in first and Al's hand shot up. His thinking was, if the whale sharks leave after a while he will have had first dibs! So he and Lara dove in with their guide and the videographer. It wasn't long before they were side one, and then another and another and all they do is open their mouth and eat little fish!

They eventually were able to swim alongside one and the videographer was able to capture some good takes. They are huge! And they paid no mind to them at all; Lara and Al just made sure to stay far enough away to observe and ensure when they changed direction they were out of distance of their huge tails! While the whale sharks move slowly, they are still zipping along at a good clip and Al was impressed by how Lara was able to keep up! Al said eventually there were many whale sharks visible and when it was their turn on the boat these massive whales went right under their boat without skipping a beat, all in search of their foodl!

There were a lot of boats because these tours sell out due to how rare seeing a whale shark is (they only are here in the Riviera Maya till Sept. for an all-you-can-eat plankton buffet for hundreds of giant whale sharks, an annual event known as "afuera." These whale sharks live their lives largely out of the sight. Little is known about where they go and what they do when they aren't in shallow-water feeding groups like the ones in Mexican waters. Nowhere else do whale sharks gather in such large numbers in full view of human eyes – and researchers are using the opportunity to learn more about these elusive gentle giants.

The sharks swim at surface level with their mouths wide open just vacuuming in the eggs. They swim with their mouths open catching small plantkon, then filter out the water through their gills. They have slow swimming movements in their search for food on the water's surface. Because the sharks feed at the surface, researchers have been able to figure out how they eat, as well as how much. Whale sharks have a unique filtration system: Their mouths are equipped with pads that look like scouring pads from your kitchen (according to a biologist at the University of South Florida) who has studied the afuera whale sharks' feeding behavior. Whale Sharks are curious and often approach divers and snorkelers to have a look, and will sometimes swim alongside them, and encounters with these enormous but docile creatures are a joy for snorkelers and divers.

They were extremely lucky to be able to dive 4 times with the whale sharks! Some people only get a dive or two in based on the size of groups so this was a big day. Afterwards they rode over to Isla Mujeres off the lagoon and swam for half and hour enjoyed lunch and a cold beer (for Al, not Lara). Afterwards it was a boat ride back to the van and a sleepy trip home. I don't think their feet were touching the floor when they came in the door! Well feet soon hit the floor when Al realized he'd forgotten his CD in the van but we got it back and whew, watched the video footage over and over.

I would tell you about my day yesterday but it would be BORING all in capital letters but it did include some shopping and hagglin, some cold drinks, a fabulous lunch, a swim, and all followed by dinner out on the town with our ears wide open listening to both Al and Lara recount their adventures at sea. What a day. (Please click on the photos to enlarge them!)

Kels and Lara finally joined me to see the sunrise this am. Now it's 10am and time for our daily Sal swim in the pool.

Sal & the "Whalers!"

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Comments

[Shannon]

wow!
Definately a thrill of a lifetime! Thanks for sharing. Glad you guys are having a wonderful trip.

[Playagal]

Whale sharks
Hey Shannon; were you just in Vegas Baby?