Back to Coral Bay. We try our luck at the parking area near the jetty, but the local ranger does not want to look the other way. He tells me that poor planning from my end does not mean we can break the rules. Back into town the caravan park is full. We are being put up on the overflow site behind the back packers. Good enough for us.
Next day we are in for a big treat. The boat is good to go this time, the weather is sublime and we have Team Smit ready and prepped to go. Oma Els and Hugo will join us on the boat and enjoy all the action from the upper deck.
We have discussed with the team that snorkeling above sand or coral feels different from jumping into the wide open ocean and not being able to see the bottom, however on the surface everything is the same. The snorkeling remains the same. Pieter is also going to join us in the water. He has my utmost respect. Years of experience don’t lie, he is a very accomplished snorkeler, and all the walks with Flickie have improved his fitness no doubt. The first dive we do is on the inner reef, and we are again blown away by the coral’s beauty. It all looks very pristine. What a privilege to submerge yourself in such a pretty environment.
We’re just back on deck when
we hear that the pilot in the spotter plane has seen a whale shark and it’s
only five minutes drive from our current location.
The staff is giving us instructions. The
people on board are divided into two groups, we have to stay away from the
animal, don’t startle it, because it will dive deep and not come back up again,
and so on. We’re in the first group and the anticipation is making our children
somewhat nervous. But we have also discussed there will be no room for drama,
no “I don’t want to go”, “I’m scared”, “I have changed my mind”. No matter how
scared, we are committed, we are going to see it through. Jaap and Laura have
some anxious tears in their mask before we get it, but it’s all over as soon as
they’re in the water.
In the near distance from out of the blue
appears this gentle giant, swimming straight towards us, so quickly to the
side, and then try to swim along side the whale shark, with his beautiful spots
and gathering of following smaller fishes.
One sweep of his tail spans meters
from left to right and effortlessly he disappears again.
Time to huddle up in
our group and wait for the boat to pick us up, sit on the back deck and do it
all again.
The boat drops us off a bit further on the track the shark is
swimming, so we get to see and swim along the shark five times! And all I can
think is ‘How pretty, how stunning, how incredibly beautiful’. Amazing to think
that all this fish needs is plankton and krill. He is not feeding when we see
him, it looks like he is cruising looking for food.
Just as we are told to get ready for our
last encounter, the shark decides to take a dive for deeper waters. He’s gone.
But we have him on film and more importantly, the lady owner of the company has
him on film, and she does professional movies. We can’t wait to see her work.
Amazing.
It is still early in the day, so there are
two more opportunities to snorkel, close to the outer reef and another one on
the inner reef. We now witness the coming of age of the rest of our snorkeling
children. It seems they are all mermaids. Fuelled maybe with their new
experience of open water snorkeling, there is no stopping them now. Diving down
to 5 meters, easily and up again. Like tea bags, up and down, up and down.
There is a little yellow sea horse all
alone in the middle of the big ocean. So all our attention is shifted from the
largest fish in the water to one of the tiniest little creatures. The little
sea horse is almost equally admired.
Inwardly I thank Mother Nature for The
Nigaloo reef in all its glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment