After a short 90-minute drive following the manta ray swim, I finally arrived in Exmouth, where I can swim with whale sharks! Exmouth is located 1,250 km (776 miles) north of Perth. The town is bigger than I expected but still feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. I even checked out the real estate prices, thinking it might be cheaper here since Lancelin was very expensive, but to my surprise, Exmouth is pricey too. The houses range from about A$600K to a million. Wow...
Day 7-9: Exmouth, WA - Whale Sharks
I booked two different whale shark swim boat tours in Exmouth. Both tours use a Cessna to spot the whale sharks. Some boat companies share a Cessna, but one of the companies I booked with has its own, which supposedly means more time swimming with the whale sharks—at least that's what they advertise. They do charge a higher price, but there’s a time or swim limit per whale shark, so after a certain time or number of swims, we need to leave and let another boat take over.
I went on two different boats: one that shared a Cessna and one that had its own. Honestly, I didn’t notice much difference between them in terms of whale shark time. However, I was glad I booked two days with the company that had its own Cessna because their staff was better. Not that the other company was bad, but if I go again, I wouldn't mind paying an extra A$50 for the better experience. This is especially true if you're an underwater photographer.
The visibility wasn’t great, but that makes sense because whale sharks come to these waters to feed. High-nutrient waters typically don’t have good visibility, but the boat staff said it wasn’t bad at all over the three days.
Research on whale sharks is still in its early stages, so there’s a lot we don’t know yet. For example, 80% of the whale sharks spotted in Exmouth are male, and they’re all juvenile, about 4 to 6 meters long. Scientists still don’t understand why.
The reproduction of whale sharks is still a mystery. One of the guides mentioned a pregnant whale shark that was caught in Taiwan, so I looked into it.
---In 1995, a pregnant female shark was captured off the coast of Taiwan. Researchers discovered more than 300 embryos inside her, surpassing the highest embryo count ever recorded in a shark. Notably, the embryos were at various developmental stages: some remained in their egg cases, while others had emerged but were still within the uterus. This observation suggests that female sharks might possess the ability to store sperm from males, allowing them to selectively fertilize their eggs over an extended duration.
Whale swim day 1 and 2 were good. It as cold about 23C, 73F in the water in late May. They said can be 18C in winter so I recommend going in summer (means winter in the USA). 18C, 64F Water temperature is not fun. Many sharks were cooperative but need to swim a lot yea of course you have to catch up with alive sharks even they are slow swimmer.
After day 1 (most swim I did.) I was start thinking was my plan was bit too hard on last day? My plan was after whale swim 4 hours drive to South also it is going to be dusk to dark. Yup Kangaroo time. I talked to a few local about this and they said change your plan, it is too dangerous but I have plan to do something so I had to stick with my plan.
Whale swim day 3 was great! I was actually getting board for a sharks because they only swim! They don't roll or up and down. Yea they are shark but this last day I think it was best visibility in 3 days and the sharks we found was very slow swimmer and he didn't go anywhere so we didn't have to find another one we stick with this guy. and when shark was coming to this way he start diving yup yup! this is the shot I wanted. YES!!!!!!! again you have never know what is going to happen so for photography you need to go every opportunity you have even shark only swim lol.
Since this last shark was very cooperated to us we didn't have to waste time to find another shark we came back to the port earlier than usual also I didn't not have to swim hard, I wasn't tired at all so It was no problem to drive 4 hours after this. I feel so lucky! When I arrive the accommodation it is already dark but I didn't see any kangaroos on the way.
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To be continued
Akima Kai Ocean Travel Blog