La Paz (Mexico) | Tiburón Ballena - Day 8

The MS National Geographic Venture arrived in La Paz this morning. The ship brings passengers from Alaska and Canada down to experience the beauty and wildlife of the Baja peninsula. I was surprised to see the boat and did not realize that National Geographic has an entire fleet of ships.

This morning I head out to grab breakfast before my excursion into the Bay of La Paz, where I will snorkel with Whale Sharks. 

My breakfast of choice this morning is Huevos (way vose) Rancheros, which translates to ranch eggs. It can be prepared in a variety of different ways. This morning, I have two eggs and refried beans placed on a tortilla, covered with two types of salsa (i.e., Rojo [red] and Verde [green] and cotija cheese. I top it off with green juice from apples, ginger, and lime juice, among other ingredients.

I must have a decent breakfast before heading out on the boat to snorkel today at 1145 am. The excursion is set to last several hours, and I will be burning lots of calories either swimming or trying to stay warm in the boat when I am not in the water.

Emily decided to back out of the trip. "My family is going to be here in a couple of weeks, and I prefer to go with them," she tells Alizée and me before we head out. "You are a rockstar for setting this up; bummer you can't go with us. I understand." With that, Alizée and I head out the door. 

Today will be a great day. The scheduled temperature is 76 F (24 C) and breezy. After a 15-20 minute walk downtown, we find the office for the tour. Several minutes later, a short Mexican woman with great energy shows up.

"Hola! I'm Gaby, your guide. We will have 10-14 people on the boat today unless no one shows up. Then it will be a private tour for your two," she laughs. A short while later, she leads us to our boat, where we pick up a foursome along the way, and before the boat leaves, we pick up another threesome.

Whale Sharks can grow up to 80 ft (24 m) long and generally are solitary deep-water creatures. Every year during the winter, immature Whale Sharks come to the Bay of La Paz to feed on zooplankton blooms in the shallow waters of the Bay of La Paz. La Paz is one of the few places where Whale Sharks congregate in numbers.

The front group I am a part of is the 2nd group to enter the water. The tour companies restrict the number of swimmers to 6 at maximum. A guide must be in the water at all times with swimmers. Alexandra, wearing the flotation vest, and the others in the back of the boat could be better swimmers, yet they still choose to come out and partake in the experience. 

After a short boat ride across the bay, which Gaby uses to explain the rules and what we can expect, she climbs up onto the boat's bow. She starts looking for Whale Sharks, and he signals to guide the captain when she isn't dancing!

"Keep at least 3 meters between you and the Tiburón Ballena (i.e., Whale Shark) when you are alongside it. And keep 5 meters when you are near the tail. Never cross in front of, over, or under the shark. If you want to cross to the other side, drop back, then pass behind the shark," she tells us.

Then we spot our first Whale Shark. "Wow! I didn't expect them to the right on the surface," I tell Alizée. "I didn't either. My mom thinks I am crazy for wanting to do this and that I will get swallowed up whole by the requin balein (i.e. Whale Shark)," she laughs.

We spot several Whale Sharks of various sizes while cruising the bay. The first few are small and want to avoid cooperating. Then Gaby spots another and jumps into the water first. Once the gentle giant is located, she raises her right hand with a red glove. This lets the boat know she has visual confirmation of the shark. Then she uses her left hand to indicate the line of travel for the captain, who quickly maneuvers the boat into place alongside the shark. Finally, one by one, 5 participants jumped into the water.

Just before the first swimmer dops in, Gaby says, "Es enorme! (It's a huge one)!" Want to see what it's like? Check out this Whale Shark video on youtube from La Paz. The video gives you a sense of what it is like, in addition to observing their behavior. 

In group 1, the non-swimmers take their turn in the water observing the Whale Shark.

Each Whale Shark in the Bay of La Paz has a unique name based on its markings. The one that befriended us is Uranto because of the "U" shaped marking on his side. Uranto is > 32 ft (10 m) long. What an experience to swim next to such a fantastic creature! It didn't take long for me to feel humbled and small. The tail fin was nearly 4+ ft (1.2+ m) tall, and the side fins were 2.5 ft (0.7 m) long.

Unlike Alizée, who came specifically to La Paz to swim with Whale Sharks, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity once it presented itself. This was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable experiences I have had in the water! And for only 1,100 Pesos (about $58 USD). Having spent my career studying terrestrial mammals, I am enjoying tremendously discovering and interacting with marine wildlife while in Baja. I could not have picked a better time to come on this trip.