Whale of a time

I still can’t quite believe it … we swam with whale sharks yesterday in Saleh Bay.

I may have cried … more than once … which was a little messy in a snorkelling mask.

Swimming with whale sharks wasn’t listed on our cruise itinerary. But, from the moment I debuted my whale shark-patterned stinger suit on Lizard Island, hints were dropped that it held a secret relevance.

I discovered my suit while at Ningaloo a few years back. I went there out of whale shark season, but I didn’t like my chances of keeping up with them anyway. I’ve heard they power past you in the water and I’m not a strong swimmer.

When I got the feeling that whale sharks might be on our cruise agenda, I started Googling locations in Indonesia that are known for them. I was so excited when Triton Bay came up, which was our second stop in West Papua. Oooooh, I thought, maybe we’ll be swimming with them there?!

No. It was purely a snorkelling and scenic cruising experience.

Komodo Island was another top location, but our briefing mentioned nothing and it was the last stop on our itinerary.

Damn, I thought, my instincts were wrong.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, our expedition leader announced that instead of cruising straight to Bali from Komodo we would be detouring to Selah Bay.

Selah Bay is dotted with fishing platforms that attract whale sharks, who eat the shrimp swarming in the waters around them.

Ponant has never included the Selah Bay experience before, so we were the guinea pigs!

There are strict rules about how many people can be in the water with the whale sharks at one time, so we were divided into nine groups.

DD and I were assigned to the final group to visit the platform. So I spent the morning fretting that all the whale sharks would have left after feeding for three hours straight.

But no, there was one hovering with his mouth wide open to swallow the fishy water being sprayed out from the platform by fishermen, while another whale shark undulated among us. There may have been more than two, but it was hard to tell in the excitement.

At one point I surfaced to adjust my mask and when I stuck my head back under the water a whale shark was swimming literally an arm’s length below me. It was so close that I starfished myself and froze in position until it swam away.

Awesome. Unforgettable. What a way to end our cruise!

Well, there were also cocktails …