Djibouti: Swimming with Whale Sharks
Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world, reaching 14m / 46 feet in length and weighing 30 tons / 66,000 pounds. They swim slowly with wide open gaping mouths swallowing all the plankton along the way. Djibouti is the best place in the world to swim with them, literally within just feet away! It’s an incredible sight of a massive shark swimming straight at you and around you with an open mouth! They have very beautiful dotted color and look like an unreal animal, something made up in Photoshop. The water was very milky and murky with visibility almost like in a fog – but this is exactly why the giant whale sharks come into this bay: the waters are rich with tiny plankton that the giant fish feed on. Interestingly, the tiny plankton creatures actually bite – you don’t notice it while you are chasing giant whale sharks, but as so as the sharks dive, you all of a sudden feel like thousands tiny needles pinning you all over.
