Mary L. Peachin with photography by Jan Hanson, David Lovitt, Bill Kimball and Mary L. Peachin
Vol. 9 No. 4
Entering the water directly in a whale shark’s path, I peered into its approaching mouth. A few feet away, its eyes appeared to check me out (that might have been anthropomorphic).
The surface boiled. As many as sixty whale sharks moved slowly, mouths agape, in the plankton rich waters. Some fed in circles, giving us a second or even a third encounter, close up views of attached remoras dining on parasites. Schools of sardines, a frenetic bait ball breaking the surface, gobbled anything escaping the gaping mouth. Cobia, playing the roles of pilot fish, kept pace with the shark s strong strokes.