Last Wednesday I went on a spearfishing trip with the South Texas Freedivers to dive a floating oil platform. Not much success on the platform, so we moved to a permanent oil rig and ran into this big guy. I have been scuba diving for 25 years and freediving for about 10 years and never seen one of these whale sharks before. It was an amazing encounter. It kept coming back to the rig several times and didn't seem to mind the human interaction. It actually turned and steered towards me on one occasion.
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Whale Shark encounter
- Thread starterdallasdiver
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Thread Status: Hello
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This one was about a 20 footer. It had a nice entourage of Cobia's and Ramora's. It was interesting that there was also about a dozen silky sharks that seemed to be following the whale shark about 40 feet behind it.
great photos what a natural high saw whale shark 1 time in the philippines off the island cebu near the town of leluan prob 1000ft from the beach snorkleing between scuba dives makes me wish i was somewhere tropical i guess i will have to pretend or maybe go to a lake WI soon also Ken can tell use what kind of camera you used thanks
Great picture! It sounds like a great experience! I went on a dive safari in the Similan Islands in Thailand on the Whale Shark season but unfortunately I didn't see any whale sharks!
Said
Said
We saw tuna's at a different floating oil drilling platform earlier. But none with the whale shark. Just Cobia's and Ramora were with the whale shark.
The camera was Don Moore's. It was a small digital camera in a plastic housing. I think it was 4 mega pixel. The first pic is of the Hoover Dianna rig where we started our spearfishing trip. Huge rig in 1380 feet. This rig is about 350 feet tall. We saw tuna below, but they were just to deep to reach. We tried chumming them up, but the current was carrying the chum away before it could sink. The second photo of Scott with whale shark and also a couple of the sharks around us.
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I took diving John John Majeski this past eastern hollydays, we also took a few pictures of a whale shark in the waters of Puerto Rico.
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Cool
Can you post your pics? Hey Roberto hows the spearing fishing this time of year? Our spearing will start off the Texas coast as soon as the seas settle down a bit. You know I will be passing through San Juan to visit my in-laws in September, I wouldn't mind hooking up with you for a day of spearing.
Can you post your pics? Hey Roberto hows the spearing fishing this time of year? Our spearing will start off the Texas coast as soon as the seas settle down a bit. You know I will be passing through San Juan to visit my in-laws in September, I wouldn't mind hooking up with you for a day of spearing.
Dallas, Can't complain, am in a tropical island, summer year long.
But water has been a chilli 77F , should raise to 81F pretty soon.
Cant complain about the spearing, this wahoo was last month.
But water has been a chilli 77F , should raise to 81F pretty soon.
Cant complain about the spearing, this wahoo was last month.
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Sounds pretty toasty to me. Great photo of the whale shark!!! OMG! That is one huge wahoo!!! When I arrive in PR. in September, is that a good time for spearing? Will I have any trouble finding a charter to take freedive spearing?
Ah Man, I'm so jealous. I would have loved to encounter a whale shark, shame Don had to sell his boat. Ces't la Vie I guess. Good pics, I guess I missed this thread the first time around.
~JMP
P.S. The water was good at Athens, the staff was AWESOME! They were very willing to work with us and make us super comfortable. It was cold, but we didn't have to worry about silt, we were the only ones there. Too bad you couldn't make it, next time maybe.
~JMP
P.S. The water was good at Athens, the staff was AWESOME! They were very willing to work with us and make us super comfortable. It was cold, but we didn't have to worry about silt, we were the only ones there. Too bad you couldn't make it, next time maybe.
Yeah James, I sorry I missed that day. The whole family was sick that weekend. That sounds like when I went to Clear Springs in January. There was no one to meet me at the front gate and no one else in the entire park, so I went diving for a few very cold hours by myself. When I was leaving I drove around and found the owner who was mowing the property to pay him. He was really surprised to see me there.
I have never seen a whale shark before, and it is definitely high on my list of underwater experiences. I am going to Mozambique next week, which is know for whale shark sightings, so wish me luck!
btw, try using frozen chum if there is a current, the frozen chum sinks faster and still does the job.
btw, try using frozen chum if there is a current, the frozen chum sinks faster and still does the job.