Whale Sharks a-feastin', Manta Rays a-leapin'
Voice from the field, Jul 15, 2013 - Pez Maya
Though
life at Pez Maya is amazing, like everybody else on earth, we volunteers look
forward to the weekend, which for us is Thursday and Friday. Whatever we
do this weekend, our adventure last Thursday can’t be topped.
At
almost 4.30 in the morning, myself and around 12 others made our way to Cancun
in order to swim with one of the largest creatures in the seas, the whale
shark.
The
tour took us about 4km off the Cancun and past the coasts of Isla Mujeres,
where we found a pod of whale sharks making their annual migration
routes. Travelling from South America, the whale sharks migrate past the
shores of Mexico between June and September and bring great numbers of excited
travellers and marine fanatics with them. For us, the experience was a
once in a lifetime.
The
group was divided in two and travelled out on two boats. When we were on
the water, each group sent two people at a time, who were accompanied by an
instructor, to swim with these incredible animals. Keeping our numbers
small kept the whale sharks comfortable and enabled us to spend more time with
them. Equipped with fins, a mask and a snorkel, each volunteer spent time
being immersed in a world that almost seemed make-believe. At the
end of our allocated time we were given the option to snorkel at a different
Isla Mujeres site or to spend more time with the whale sharks. Of course
we chose the latter and no one regrets it!
As
if the whale sharks weren’t enough, we can’t forget about the manta rays that
were migrating along with the whale sharks! Reaching almost 2.5m wide,
these rays glided right next to the whale sharks and even below some of us
volunteers.
The rays really made an impression when they leapt out of the
water to heights of about one metre and came crashing down not far from our
boat. After snorkelling with such amazing animals it’s hard to think
anything will top this experience. But I guess that just means we have to
look out for something just as great to do this weekend.
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