Chasing Butandings

May of 2004, after hearing about these great mega fauna--whalesharks aka Butandings in Donsol, Sorsogon, I finally had the chance to see them up close in the wild! Since 1998 when Joyce Javillonar talked to me about whalesharks, I am always in awe: How can you go near a fish with a mouth as big as a car?

Many of my most memorable trips are spur of the moment planning. Last year with Mirac, Melo and Jas together with Melo's father, we drove down to Donsol. Not one of us has ever been to the town of Donsol and although the family of Melo lived in Naga, still they haven't encountered these whalesharks of Donsol.

On a side trip, we went paddling down a river after sun down, not to see the sharks but to witness another of mother nature's shows. At around 8PM we saw pulsating fire flies enveloping the dark silhouette of trees by the riverbank. On board a small out rigger paddle boat, on the dark river, it was indeed a spectacular nature show.

In the morning, we put on our suits, sunscreen and carried our snorkel to the shores of Donsol, where we met our BOIman. Butanding interaction officer. He is the spotter and he leads us to the whaleshark interaction. During our first sighting, I was behind with Melo and since my vision is not 20/20 I am near sighted, I saw some dark thing swaying in the brown water and suddenly a caudal fin about 5 feet or more almost hit us. My heart pounding as we swam back to the boat. After that we interacted with 8 more Butandings chasing after them, trying to swim and snorkel fast to get a glimpse of these majestic gentle whalesharks. It was indeed a breath taking experience.

Two weeks later on another spur of the moment trip, Aimee and El ask me to join an overnight trip back to Donsol. This time we traveled overnight arrived midmorning then we go directly to the site and interacted with a dozen whalesharks. This time I got much closer to the whaleshark and even shot a few close up of its white spots :O) Still dazed, we got on the afternoon bus to Manila and arrive early next morning, the 10 hour bus ride was well worth the trip to see those huge fish, that comes by a few months a year.

Another morsel of adventure that renews me everytime I remember these time with friends. I am in awe of God's love for variety and beauty. I thank God for His wonderful creations that brings much joy and sense of adventure to a nature lover's heart