Before daybreak
Our 4:30am wake-up name is adopted by a two-hour journey requiring each a dune buggy and a ship. This dawn Natural Habitat Adventures‘ excursion from Isla Holbox, located just north of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is tinged with giddy optimism—and fear. We hope our boat journey by way of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean can be rewarded with whale shark sightings—however the situations must be excellent.
Our intrepid guides are solely capable of spot whale sharks if they’re feeding on plankton close to the water’s floor, which solely occurs if the climate is evident and situations cooperate. For a few of our fellow vacationers—together with Joe, a science instructor from New Jersey—it is a second they’ve been ready for his or her complete lives. Despite the early hour, our little boat crackles with nervous anticipation.
© Alexis Rosenfeld
Luckily, the situations are optimum. And by some miracle, our boat, considered one of some 30 vying for spots throughout the identified feeding space, is the primary to identify whale sharks. For 20 minutes, it’s simply us—two boat captains, one information, and 5 vacationers—and the biggest fish within the sea. In that point, every of us has the possibility to leap into the water and, armed with flippers and snorkels, do our greatest to maintain up with the mild giants beneath.
Open water
The thought is to launch into the water as a whale shark passes parallel to the boat. With eyes on the edges of their heads, whale sharks can’t see us if we’re in entrance of them, however timing our jumps is tough for this group of novices. I gracelessly slide into the water simply in time to see a whale shark’s large, plankton-collecting maw coming straight for me, and whereas I logically know that its throat is incapable of swallowing something bigger than a golf ball, it does nothing to mitigate my panic as I scramble round to the whale shark’s aspect.
The distinction between the frenzy of leaping out of the boat is shortly adopted by the eerie calm of swimming parallel to a creature that may be upwards of 30 toes lengthy. Nothing can put together you for the whale sharks’ dimension, pace, and beauty—or how unbothered they’re by the presence of people. Even essentially the most cynical and marine-averse amongst us can’t assist however be blown away by an in depth brush with these marine giants. They float alongside, calmly observing us with their lovely little marble eyes whereas small fish huddle near the sharks’ giant dorsal fins, and big manta rays glide simply past.
Nature—and tradition—on land
For two days, we comply with the identical routine: rising early, journeying out seeking whale sharks, and diving as many instances as we are able to earlier than heading again to Holbox. The whale sharks are the spotlight, however Holbox and the Yucatan peninsula provide vivid moments every day of our week-long journey.
© Caroline Prince / WWF
Isla Holbox is the type of place that makes you need to forsake a 9-to-5 life-style and abscond to the tropics perpetually. A car-free island, Holbox is a tiny strip of land populated by myriad chook species (together with flamingos), welcoming locals, and an ever-increasing variety of vacationers. The eating places are vigorous, the seashores pristine, and the whale shark an omnipresent motif at giftshops and in commercials. The dichotomy between the remoteness of the open ocean and the bustle of the city is an interesting kind of whiplash, one which we welcome every time we return from an open-water tour.
Several afternoons are dedicated to seaside walks, throughout which we scout for gray pelicans, herons, and cormorants. Enthusiasm for birdwatching varies amongst our group, however our information, Fernando, succeeds in instilling a love of birds in all of us as he giddily spots one species after one other, together with two of the island’s well-known flamingos.
Unexpected pure wonders
One afternoon, we journey to the mainland to get pleasure from a cenote—a pure sinkhole ensuing from collapsed limestone that exposes groundwater. These lovely underwater caves, our information Eric explains, have been sacred to the Maya. He urges us to drift round in silence, taking within the mild sounds of dripping stalactites and echoing chambers. It’s a far cry from what many could take into account a typical vacationer expertise within the area at resort-dense locations like close by Cancun and Cozumel. Cenote waters can attain depths of practically 400 toes—and peering down into the clear waters beneath is an unbelievable expertise for anybody not affected by thalassophobia.
Between the cenotes, the whale sharks, the numerous birds, and even a cuttlefish or two (noticed throughout a day of reef snorkeling), this area highlights the nearness of outstanding nature to even essentially the most built-up areas—if you recognize the place to look.
Now, a number of months after this magical little journey, this adamantly land-based human nonetheless daydreams about swimming with whale sharks, wandering the streets of a car-free island, and consuming sandwiches on a small boat within the noon solar. She is at the moment planning her subsequent marine tour.
By Caroline Prince, Senior Philanthropy Writer at World Wildlife Fund