Whaleshark!!!

Best Dive Job Blog #4

Yesterday I was treated to something that rarely happens in Bali. While assisting on Open Water dives 3 and 4 with instructor Mike, DMT Natasha and our very lucky student Jim, we saw a whaleshark. Whaleshark sightings are rare in Bali, so it’s a very special event when one is spotted. We saw it in Coral Garden which is a shallow site near the USAT Liberty wreck. You can imagine our excitement when, expecting to spend our dive in the company of reef fish and ribbon eels, we look behind us and see a 6 meter whaleshark no more than 1 meter away!! We were only in about 8 meters of water and it was cruising right over our heads. Literally we could have reached up and touched it (but of course we didn’t). We tried to follow it for a bit but clearly it was a shark on a mission because fairly quickly after it arrived it disappeared into the blue. Then it was time for surprise number 2! Just as the whaleshark’s tail disappeared out of sight, a 1.5 meter long black tip reef shark swam by!! Now that’s what I call good ocean karma! Two amazing sharks in one dive…welcome to Bali!  As for our very lucky Open Water student Jim, there aren’t many people who can say they saw a whaleshark on their fourth dive ever. I’m only two weeks into my 6 months here in Bali and already the experiences have been amazing. I can’t imagine what else the ocean around this beautiful island has in store for me but if yesterday is any indication, there is a lot more to come.