Friday Nov 6
We have been looking for the Whalesharks since we boarded. Last week we were told that they were down South so we headed towards there. When we got there they were no where to be found. Then we were told that they had headed North. We headed North. Still no Whalesharks. We carried on diving to take a break from the search. This week the Dive Crew heard that they were down South again. That was two days ago. It has taken us two days to get back South and this time we are even further South than last time.

We knew that the crew were on the hunt today for them today. We did our first dive which was a very nice dive. Hey, what dive isn’t. We got back had breakfast and then got ready for our next dive. We were originally going to do our second dive then look for the Whaleshark. Well, when we hit the dive boat things changed. We switched that around and went hunting first.

The seas were really rough. I would say that the swells were about 6 ft/ 2 meters high. As the crew was searching we were all chatting and trying to stay I our seats without falling down. Water was breaking over the bow of the boat. You could see that some were turning green and wishing that the search would end and that we just could get into the water. We should have been ready to get into the water but like me….I am sure that nobody really thought we would see it. I am not sure how long it took the crew to locate one. They were on the roof of the boat. All of a sudden we could heard banging. They spotted one. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In our excitement we grabbed our snorkel gear and hit the water.

Lily was first in which is amazing as she is not a great swimmer and was afraid of getting into seas that rough. It took me awhile to get my camera and lens ready. When I got in I remembered…….DO NOT TAKE PHOTO’S………..TAKE VIDEO. I was so proud of myself for remembering that. I was shooting for about a minute. The Whaleshark was just under me. As the shark was moving deeper and away from me I realized that I forgot to take off my macro lens……UGHHHHHHHHHHHH. Boo Hoo. The fortunate thing is that my friend Robin was right beside me the entire time. She took video as well so we would have had the same footage and even better yet…..she has a better camera than me. The video is awesome and I will put it on this blog when I get home.

That is not the end of this dive either. I have no idea why but I had told my buddies that I was going to stay with the guides today. Normally I am at the back of the pack and last on the boat.
Today I wanted to be up front. Well, that did not happen as my group got separated. When we regrouped the current changed and everybody had turned around. I now was waiting for one of my buddies to catch up to me. Not long after I was got everyone back in order I could hear a rattle being shaken like crazy. I knew that the others had seen the whaleshark underwater. I missed it. I was very happy for the others as I have seen 4 whalesharks underwater and this was their very first one.

Needless to say everyone is exhausted and very happy. As I write this piece we are in a storm. The boat is rocking and rolling. All of my seasick people are in bed…or at least I hope that they are as walking around on the boat is a challenge. I think I will grab my book and do exactly the same thing.

Sat Nov. 7
Did a night dive in the pouring rain. It was a strong current and because of the storm I wanted to stay with the group. They were flying down the reef. It was not my cup of tea but the Brit’s loved it. We did see a lobster and two huge rays.
Today we did a 4 ½ hr crossing in a storm. It was rough but due able. Again it poured rain for our two dives. Robin found an amazing nudibranch today. We were meant to do a bar-ba-que tonight but the rain stopped us. We were going to do a night dive but the crew are exhausted but driving that boat in the stormy weather. At last the storm has ended. I am back outside on the upper deck writing this.