Emotional anguish and whale shark encounters
Posted By Vladimir Soto on 6 December 2006
We've all got dark lil' secrets and insecurities. Even if these are thick and convoluted, the kind that only shadowy seedy alleys, ancient hallucinogenic plant remedies procured by wise elders in the mountains of Oaxaca, very perseverant therapists armed with an assortment of the latest best selling happy pills or painful and embarrassing public acceptance could begin to unravel, it is to the benefit of our growth to confront them. And so, I'm here before you to confess a humiliating secret of mine:
For the longest time I've suffered from whale shark envy. There, I said it.
I mean, I've been diving for years, and teaching for most of those. Been to Galapagos, even lived in Sri Lanka for a while, went to Belize, the Honduran Bay Islands and a few other places that supposedly were good bets for sightings. And yet, time after time, nothing. I started to think I just wasn't meant to see one. Not me. Whenever I found myself in the midst of a group of divers talking about their 'mind blowing' whale shark encounter my heart would pound, sweat would pour and in a mix of pain and anger I would wish I had never even heard of them darn beasts, wondering if for the rest of my life I would have to settle with going to Japan or the Georgia aquarium to merely see one in captivity.
But alas, after almost a decade of frustration and shame it happened for me. And I didn't encounter just one, oh, no siree, I actually swam for more than a couple of hours with 12. Yup. A dozen! It wasn't a 5 second thing either. I swam for so long, so many times and so close to them that when I finally came out of the water I could do nothing but smile, feel the long held anguish finally being expelled out of me like fizz from a well shaken carbonated bottle of psychological sugary drink and think that without a doubt this was the day I should start playing the lottery.
Where? Mexico! Yes, yes, the Yucatan peninsula is quite prosperous with divers' treasures and whale sharks during the months of June, July, August and September definitely make for some of the nicest to go admire. I went on a snorkeling boat tour through Ecotravelmexico.com, and we left out of Punta Sam, but more on that later.
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