butanding up close

Up close and personal with the whalesharks of Donsol, Sorsogon. These are the spots of the whalesharks locally known as "butanding". A bonus in this image is the remora eel. This was not planned but such a wonderful addition to the composition. I took this photo with a Canon A70 with an underwater housing. This was taken a couple of years ago when I went to interact with these gentle giant fish. I was with Elnora and Aimee at that time.

It is almost whaleshark watching season again. We were so lucky to have about at least 12 sightings when I last went there. The first time with Melo, Melo's father, Jas and Mirac we saw more than 15, I guess mostly full grown and some juvenile. We also went firefly watching the night before. We had each individual small boats as we paddle down a river at 9 in the evening. Magical to see those fireflies. I wish I can experience this again soon.

I will never forget the first time I saw the huge tail in the murky dark brown waters. It just rained that time. Also we were behind the team and it was so fast the first interaction I got was that I almost got hit by this caudal fin which seems longer than my own body. Like an image from Jaws-- but in reality these are really very gentle creatures. Although there seems to be a moment that I hesistate but the feeling after each interaction is awesome!