Whale Sharks

Category: Research | Date: Feb 28 2008 | By: admin

Oh dear, our first day with zero shark sightings. It was a long, long wait out on the boat today with nothing to show for it at the end! Rob flew up and down like a trooper but there were no sharks at all! The sea was super flat, beautifully calm and the visibility was the best we have seen. Lots of plankton and jellies in the water (perfect whale shark food) but not a one in sight! I feel a bit discouraged but Brent remains positive and delighted with our efforts so far. Tomorrow is another day I suppose.

We passed the time on the boat having free dive competitions, day dreaming and snoozing. Volker and Brent argued over who was going to tag the next shark. David really wants a go but despite his incredible guitar playing last night, both Volker and Brent agree that he is not allowed to get his hands on the USD5000 a piece tags! I didn’t get involved and I didn’t play any feminist cards either. Having never shot anything in my life I am content to simply watch and not fiddle around USD5000 tags! We got hungry (probably just bored with no sharks to tag) and Rob dropped us a food packet from the air. He missed the boat so Brent had to swim out and collect the bag. It was hysterical. What would we do without Rob?

 David and I had a lovely dive with Steve Curtis though at the start of the day. We missed the rest of our team though (Brent and Volker)! The vis really was nice and David had his fancy camera out so he looked the part.

We are doing a presentation tonight for the guests here at Hemingways. Tomorrow is our last day here and we will head back to Diani after a day of (hopefuly) fantastic tagging.

Our saving grace is this though - GOOD NEWS, our first streamer (identity tag) “K001″ from last year was seen just off Mafia island in Tanzania. This is really exciting and tells us that the shark is still tagged and is still cruising around out there. I was going to call this entry “SAVING GRACE” but I didn’t want to over do it with the whole “grace” theme!

Actually another saving grace is that the opposition have signed an agreement with the government today. Peace at last in Kenya. This is such wonderful news for us all. Hope floats. It really does.

And more happy news just in - Rob is coming to Diani to help us spot. So we will have a plane and a micro! What luxury!

 On that happy note, check out this beautiful picture I have just been sent by Mike Cheffing ouf gryo pilot from last week. Isn’t it stunning?

Wish us luck for tomorrow - we still have 3 more days left and are determined to get the job done! I think though that nomatter what this expedition has been a resounding success in so many ways.

Thank you all for your support.