Swimming with a Whale Shark...in Pompano Beach, Florida!

[julieann 0]

One of the things I love about scuba diving is the fact you never know what you are going to see when jump in. The ocean is an ever changing environment and you can dive the same areas for years and your never guaranteed to see the same things. Well, this Sunday while aboard The Sea Dog Diver out of Pompano Beach Dive Center we could never have imagined what we were about to experience. After just coming out of the water from our first dive there was chatter on the CB radio about sightings of a Whale Shark. The joke about the boat was "did they see mermaids also?". About a half hour later we get a call from the dive boat Miss Conduct saying they have snorkelers in the water just outside of Hillsboro Inlet with a Whale Shark--and they do not have a camera...and nobody is going to believe them. Without hesitation we headed that way. Everyone on board was overwhelmed with excitement. Could it really be a Whale Shark in Pompano Beach? When we arrived all we saw was a fin in the water and the captain yelled "Go! Go! Go!" and we all jumped in. As we put our masks in the water there in front of us was the most massive gentle creature we had ever seen! Just swimming a long with his entourage of fish that followed him where ever he went. The funny thing was that after the first pass we were all hooting and hollering about how amazing it was to get to see a Whale Shark, and never (ever!) imagining he was going to come back to us over and over again. After an hour he finally had had his fun with us and moved out into the vast ocean he calls home. Needless to say the trip back to the dock was filled with chatter about this once in a lifetime experience.

 

These shots were taken by my talented husband, Craig Dietrich.

 

Enjoy more of his work at http://www.flickr.co...aelphotography/

 

Edited November 28, 2012 by julieann

[MikeVeitch 0]

Sounds like a great experience! whalesharks are amazing creatures for sure.

 

Were you trying to post a photo to accompany from your facebook? I don't think you can post a whole set at one time. Instead just post a couple of the individual shots by using the little photo icon on the top of your post

[julieann 0]

Thanks Mike!

[MikeVeitch 0]

there ya go! That first one.. straight down the gullet! nice

[John Bantin 101]

I used my Pegasus Thruster to cruise for 30 minutes at atime with whalesharks and they seemed to like it! http://www.divernet.com/Travel_Features/indian_ocean/1414890/thrusting_with_the_biguns.html

[MortenHansen 25]

There is nothing better than seeing something that you would never expect!

 

On our way to a muck site here in the north of Bali we had 5-6 manta-rays feeding out in the blue- i've seen manta's enough times to not really get all that exited about them anymore (sad, i know) but this time I was screaming in my snorkel!

 

Next time it will be a shoal of hammerheads in Secret Bay!

 

Happy bubbles, M