Baby Butanding!

Yesterday, M and I went to the humble little town of Donsol, Sorsogon to go snorkeling with a few of the butanding (whale sharks) that congregate off the coast. Butanding live in equatorial open ocean all around the world, and tourists can also see them in places like Mexico, Tanzania, and the Maldives. However, Donsol is recognized as the best place to go whale shark spotting in the world.

(All of these pictures came from the internet - I didn't bring my camera on this trip.)

So, here's how it works: we rolled into Donsol at about 9AM and took a fifteen minute trike ride to the Butanding Interaction Center, out on the coast. The Center was a very nice little tourist spot, complete with an overpriced cafe, showering facilities, and souvenir shops. We paid the registration fee (at a discount because we're Peace Corps Volunteers - thanks!) and sat down to watch the training video produced by World Wildlife Fund Philippines.

Then we got in a bangka boat with a German family, a Japanese guy, and four Filipinos who were our guides. The boat got powered up and we started heading out to sea. It had been raining earlier that morning, and being on the boat was super cold! After awhile, the spotters started getting excited, pointing at the sea, and the boatman started circling the boat around. Our guide told us to get ready, so I ripped my windbreaker off and threw it on the floor, pulled my mask and snorkel on over my face, and sat on the edge of the bangka. He yelled "Jump!" and we all jumped in the water and started swimming after him. Then he stopped and told us to look.

The first three times that we did this, I saw the beautiful diamond pattern of the butanding's skin, eerily close to me in the water, but no real edges of anything. M teased me that I needed to get my eyes checked, and reminded me to de-fog my mask before we jumped in. (It's hard to remember to do this when you're in a hurry to jump off the boat and swim after a whale shark!)

The fourth time we did this, it was different. I guess our guide had noticed that I hadn't gotten a good view yet, so after we jumped in the ocean, he grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me along with him. Then he told me to look. I did, and was shocked to see a huge mouth and whale shark face maybe a meter or two below my feet! I was so surprised, and scared, that I screamed as loud as I could. Of course, sound doesn't travel so well under water, so I don't know if anyone actually heard it. Then the butanding dove deep into the sea, and we surfaced. It was such a rush! I started laughing hysterically and our guide did too, go figure. Then he said, "Wasn't that a cute baby?"

Whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

I was surprised that that had been a baby - I wondered what the adult butanding looked like. Well, I was about to find out. We spotted and jumped in after two more - both full grown adults. The last one we sighted freaked me out - by the time I put my face in the water to look at him, his meter long horizontal mouth was way too close to me for comfort, and he came right at us! I would've touched him if our guide hadn't once again pulled me out of harm's way.

Fortunately, butanding do not eat people - they only eat plankton. Unfortunately, people used to eat a lot of butanding, which is why their population is now vulnerable. But I had a really good time and some great adrenaline rushes splashing around in the water next to them, and ecotourism is super cool. I hope more people I know get a chance to see some butanding!