An Amazing Encounter

January 12, 2023  

One afternoon, as we explored the shoreline outside of the La Paz harbour in Kiki, we spotted a large and glistening fin.  Upon closer inspection we discovered that it was a whale shark. 

Long, sleek, and graceful, it travelled along at a surprisingly quick pace, accompanied by a large school of smaller fish.  I put on my mask and snorkel, and hopped into the water beside the whale shark.  Swimming steadily I kept up along side of it, able to see its large gills that were open as it swam along feeding. 

I saw the large school of fish that kept it company, its beautiful spotted appearance, and its large fins.  What a beautiful animal.   

Back in Kiki, Jason and I spotted another whale shark, and this one was a lot bigger than the first one that we had seen.  This one was massive, and it was feeding with its mouth high in the water such that its upper lip was often above the surface as it swam along with its large mouth open. 

It was swimming on an angle, and since the visibility of the water was not that good its large and long body faded from view into the gloom, but its head and upper body were clearly visible.  Wow was it big, and so wide!   

We spotted three more whale sharks within the same area, and Jason jumped in and swam with one of them.  The one that he swam with was also much smaller than the massive one that we had just seen, but seeing Jason swimming along side of the smaller one sure put its size into perspective, as even this small whale shark made Jason look very small.  

As the sun was getting low in the sky we headed home in Kiki, happy that we had gone out to explore that day.  What an amazing encounter!