Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Awesome. Unexpected. Once in a lifetime. Unforgettable. Breathtaking.
Today, 30-foot (10-meter) whale sharks swam within inches of our Zodiacs. It was an utterly incredible experience. They were beneath, beside, and behind our boats. At times they changed direction to slowly swim towards us, bringing their enormous, square-shaped heads so close we thought they might brush the boats. We looked down at the remoras attached to their heads, and the beautiful pattern of white lines and dots on their huge, blue-gray bodies. The enormous animals slipped by, propelled by the graceful, back and forth arcs of their tails. They were so close!
We started the day as planned, in the northwest corner of Golfo Dulce, at Rio Rincon. Kayakers explored mangrove channels or paddled to the river. Some of us cruised upriver in Zodiacs, watching for birds perched on the mangroves. A large number of people went ashore to walk along a road, where the birding was excellent. Among the birds seen were herons, ibis, whimbrels, terns, hawks, parakeets, parrots, scarlet macaws and toucans. In the meantime, the captain of the Sea Voyager had received an exciting report – just a few miles away were a dozen whale sharks! Most of the crew, natural history staff and even the captain had never before seen them. Would we be able to locate the animals? We had to try.
About 15 minutes after lifting the anchor, and just after lunch was announced, Captain Jorge’s voice announced, “This is your captain. Look off the port side of the ship.” He had found them! Within minutes, staff were in a Zodiac to try to get some video footage to show everyone on board. When it became apparent that the sharks were not leaving, all guests were invited into the four Zodiacs. The sharks came closer than before and remained right by the boats. The animals are huge, but harmless; the teeth of whale sharks are tiny and scale-like. They are strictly plankton-feeders. We collected a plankton sample and the catch was a total surprise; it was full of very small fish eggs! Was this what brought the sharks here?
After we had all returned to the ship, Rafa gave a talk about sea turtles of Costa Rica. Late in the afternoon we went ashore to visit the lovely botanical gardens of Casa Orquideas, on the southern shore of the Gulf. The plants were beautiful, colorful and exotic, and so were the birds, including more toucans, parrots, and even a pair of scarlet macaws building a nest in a large, dead tree. At recap, we viewed underwater video footage of the whale sharks taken by Jim Napoli, the trip videographer. This day has been so full!
Awesome. Unexpected. Once in a lifetime. Unforgettable. Breathtaking.
Today, 30-foot (10-meter) whale sharks swam within inches of our Zodiacs. It was an utterly incredible experience. They were beneath, beside, and behind our boats. At times they changed direction to slowly swim towards us, bringing their enormous, square-shaped heads so close we thought they might brush the boats. We looked down at the remoras attached to their heads, and the beautiful pattern of white lines and dots on their huge, blue-gray bodies. The enormous animals slipped by, propelled by the graceful, back and forth arcs of their tails. They were so close!
We started the day as planned, in the northwest corner of Golfo Dulce, at Rio Rincon. Kayakers explored mangrove channels or paddled to the river. Some of us cruised upriver in Zodiacs, watching for birds perched on the mangroves. A large number of people went ashore to walk along a road, where the birding was excellent. Among the birds seen were herons, ibis, whimbrels, terns, hawks, parakeets, parrots, scarlet macaws and toucans. In the meantime, the captain of the Sea Voyager had received an exciting report – just a few miles away were a dozen whale sharks! Most of the crew, natural history staff and even the captain had never before seen them. Would we be able to locate the animals? We had to try.
About 15 minutes after lifting the anchor, and just after lunch was announced, Captain Jorge’s voice announced, “This is your captain. Look off the port side of the ship.” He had found them! Within minutes, staff were in a Zodiac to try to get some video footage to show everyone on board. When it became apparent that the sharks were not leaving, all guests were invited into the four Zodiacs. The sharks came closer than before and remained right by the boats. The animals are huge, but harmless; the teeth of whale sharks are tiny and scale-like. They are strictly plankton-feeders. We collected a plankton sample and the catch was a total surprise; it was full of very small fish eggs! Was this what brought the sharks here?
After we had all returned to the ship, Rafa gave a talk about sea turtles of Costa Rica. Late in the afternoon we went ashore to visit the lovely botanical gardens of Casa Orquideas, on the southern shore of the Gulf. The plants were beautiful, colorful and exotic, and so were the birds, including more toucans, parrots, and even a pair of scarlet macaws building a nest in a large, dead tree. At recap, we viewed underwater video footage of the whale sharks taken by Jim Napoli, the trip videographer. This day has been so full!
