Here is my second whale shark post. I have so many photos I want to share with everyone. The first picture though, is by James Thompson, the pioneer of the world famous 'Whale Shark' call. He was lucky enough to witness a whale shark feeding frenzy from the luxury of the microlight on our first day in the Seychelles, the 2nd of October.



"James was able to take digital stills and video clips of the surface-feeding event in which several sharks can be seen lined up behind each other swimming in a tight feeding circuit, narrowly avoiding the others in the frenzied group. The sharks were feeding amongst a large shoal of fusilier fish which formed halos around the whale sharks, avoiding being accidentally sucked down by the ram-feeding sharks. James and Johan observed the group for five minutes or so before completing the rest of the survey which located a total of 23 sharks on this round Mahe flight, the highest total record for this season so far.

James was part of a group of keen divers who had booked a weeks vacation in Seychelles to participate in the MCSS whale shark monitoring programme through DiveQuest, one of a few UK Tour Operators specializing is diving vacations for small groups involving local conservation projects. James trip as observer in the micro-light will certainly give him many unforgettable memories of Seychelles!"

Taken from http://www.mcss.sc/SAGREN/Sagren_v4_3_art4.htm

Photography the whale sharks was a great experience. Below Tony Baskeyfield is demonstrating how it's done. He admits to sitting at home in front of his television, practicing holding his breath to make the most of the experience!! Tony organised this amazing trip - thanks Tony!





This poor guy has lost his incredible sweeping tail that forms such a destinctive feature of the whale shark. It must also slow him down in the water I would imagine. David's guess is that a propeller was the cause of this injury...



Sometimes you just can't get out of the way!! Especially if they want to have a good look at you!



Remember, these are the juvenile whale sharks.....!!!











I love eagle rays, they are so graceful, I was lucky enough to swim along amonst them all...

What a week in the Seychelles!

I've just returned from spending a week in the Seychelles with my camera. We joined up with the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles and went on the search for whale sharks! We found them, and not just a few, 45 encounters in 4 afternoons!











It was an incredible experience and thanks to David Rowat and his team. They are constantly monitoring and tagging sharks to learn more about migratory behaviour and routes across the Indian Ocean. They are also trying to stop the Taiwanese from fishing the whale sharks on their way through Taiwanese waters. They get huge amounts of money for each whale sharks they catch, as whale shark is a 'fad food' in Taiwan. They hook them and tow these gentle giants to shore and cash in, it's terrible and must be stopped, there should be a global ban on whale shark fishing! If you want to learn more please visit this website http://www.mcss.sc/whale.htm, you can even adopt a whale shark to help support this research!



Now you're all asking how we found the sharks...



But even more importantly you need to use the extra special 'Whale Shark Call'!! Now I've been told that this call works on all kinds of marine life...



The rest of the time you just had to put your feet up and wait...



Or go looking yourself!



We did two boat dives every morning and then spent all afternoon with the whale sharks. The boat dives were in the north of Mahe and the whales sharks were congregating in the south, probably due to the plankton rich waters.



I did 8 boat dives on this trip, I had some encounters with big granite rocks covered in soft corals as well as batfish, lion fish, eagle rays, marble sting rays, snapper and very lonely lost ramora who wanted to find himself a new home...













And to finish this Seychelles post, a nice sunset from our hotel... what a great week!!