Ningaloo...it’s exotic. It’s Australian. And it offers one of the most unique wildlife encounters in the world.
Ningaloo (which means promontory in the local indigenous language) is located 1200 km from Perth in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. The marine park includes the entire Ningaloo Reef which stretches for 300km along the northern WA coastline. (Just to put it into perspective, Perth on the west coast is about as far from Sydney on the east coast as Los Angeles is from New York).
Ningaloo is the largest fringing coral reef in Australia and one of only a few in the world found so close to a continental landmass. It is also one of the world’s best kept secrets. Over 500 species of fish, 200 species of coral, 600 species of molluscs call Ningaloo home, not to mention humpback whales, manta rays, turtles, dugong and the infamous whale sharks, who travel through the surrounding ocean in the area between April and June on their annual migration.
Swimming with the whale sharks is a unique experience available in Australia only at Ningaloo. But let me paint you a picture of the tiny hamlet of Coral Bay. It’s just south of the old US naval base at Exmouth and is really just a dot on a map. Takes ages to reach, not much accommodation, not many restaurants and few luxuries. You go to Coral Bay for the creatures, not the comforts.
You’re standing on a small, sandy bay of white sand, above you is a cornflower blue sky, in front of you the sea stretches infinitely like an azure sheet of transparent glass adorned with bobbing boats, gentle waves lap at your feet close to shore, breaking surf is just visible far out to sea.
The focus at Coral Bay is on the marine activities, and all the experiences are incredible - getting up close and personal with manta rays, enjoying the bubbly silence of a scuba tank and the effortless floating sensation while hovering over rainbow corals, cruising in a glass-bottom boat, going on a kayak adventure, or just strolling along the sand. But the king of them all, the adventure that will touch your heart and move your soul, is the swim with the whale sharks. At AUD$300+ it’s not cheap, but it’s worth every cent.
I chose to go swimming with sharks with Coral Bay Adventures, one of WA’s leading marine tour operators. Before our ocean outing, we were given a briefing by the guides, who told us that whale sharks, or Rhinocodon typus are the largest living sharks in the ocean reaching up to 8-9 meters in length and weighing hundreds of kilos.
Closely related to the bottom-dwelling sharks such as the wobbegong, whale sharks have an exquisite pattern of lines and spots on their skin enabling them to blend into their surroundings. From the surface they look like moving coral reefs of breathtaking proportions as they meander through the sea. Being ‘filter-feeders’, they eat only minute organism such as krill, crab larvae and jellyfish and can open their mouths wide like giant vacuum cleaners.
Unlike whales and dolphins, they don’t need to swim near the surface in order to breathe; they can dive down to 700m and remain submerged for long periods. They are fully protected in WA waters, but sadly not in many other places. Some countries, like Japan, hunt them for commercial and so-called ‘research’ reasons, and the succulent white meat makes its way onto Japanese dinner tables as ‘tofu fish’.
The creatures have few predators except man, and it is feared that human greed and gourmet need may soon eliminate them. Environmental organizations are trying to convince the hunters that tourism is more sustainable than sushi, but they face a tide of opposition.
After our briefing we were fitted for masks, snorkels and wetsuits (no tanks - this isn’t a scuba outing) and 20 of us piled into a coach for a quick drive and a dinghy trip to the ’mother ship’. A happy, professional crew awaited us and we began making our way into the open sea, the skipper expertly avoiding the jagged reefs and narrow passages leading to the outer reef. A spotter plane flew overhead in constant radio communication. He was searching the ocean for a whale shark to provide us with an encounter which only a few fortunate people in the world have experienced.
Swimming with Sharks
The radio crackled with excitement as the pilot spotted a 5m specimen; the skipper headed for the designated spot using his GPS. He positioned us perfectly for optimal viewing and we split up into small teams, each led by an experienced guide. We eased ourselves into the water; the trick is to pause well in front of the whale shark, and tread water in the waves till it approaches. Then the team splits into two so that everyone can watch it swim past. No touching, no contact, no noise – just observation and admiration.
I was in one of the first teams to be dropped, and I realized I was holding my breath as I waited for the huge fish to approach. I could see it through my mask, off in the distance, then suddenly it was right in front of me, powering forward, so close I struggled to get out of its way. The gentle giant cruised past, it was hard to believe a fish the size of a house was not the least bit interested in taking a bite of me.
Its markings were sublime, like tortoise shell, giraffe and leopard combined; apparently each pattern is different and their unique markings enable scientists to identify individuals. The whale shark moved slowly through the water like a huge, lazy goods train, its massive body swaying rhythmically and silently in time to the leisurely side-to-side swish of its enormous tail. But its apparent slow movement was deceptive as I discovered when I tried to follow it. My fins were flapping furiously, but the creature left me far behind in a blanket of bubbles.
As it disappeared into the distance, the combination of emotions – fear, elation, admiration, and the sheer joy of being so close to something so beautiful – was overwhelming. As we got back on the boat, after the initial adrenalin rush, a pensive, awed silence settled over the group.
There were two more opportunities to swim with the whale shark as the groups were rotated, each encounter better than the last as the spectators relaxed. The crew was careful not to get too close, distress the creature in any way or disturb its progress.
After the appointed time (there are strict rules about marine interactions), we left the whale shark in peace and absorbed what we had just witnessed. I’ve walked with elephant, patted rhinos and seen gorillas in the wild, but without a doubt, this was one of nature’s highlights. On the way back to shore a minke whale and a pod of dolphin frolicked beside the boat. It was a fitting end to a remarkable day.
To enable other people to enjoy similar marine encounters, our tour company Global Gypsies has created our own Coral Coast Eco-Tour. Part-proceeds will go to the World Wildlife Fund and Coral Bay Adventures will be joint partners. It’s time to share the Ningaloo secret with the world, and the whale sharks are waiting to meet you.
