Ah, the pleasures of the underwater world! What a fabulous time I have had enjoying the reefs, the beautiful corals and the incredible array of tropical fish.
The highlight has of course to be a dive amid many whale sharks in Oslob, on the south-east coast of Cebu Island. The adventure started with a very early start at 4.30 AM and a long drive to the dive site. At 7 am I got into a little boat, headed out into the water, and then backflipped into the warm embrace of the ocean! I immediately became aware of many giants around me. The whale shark is the largest extant fish and can attain a length of 12 metres and a weight of more than 20 metric tons! As I stayed motionless on the sand, 9 metres below the surface, the gentle giants glided over and around me many times. Because the water is not cold, I was able to stay as long as my air lasted, a full 56 minutes, a record for me! The brine in the water attracted many other fish too but it was hard to take eyes off the whale sharks!
In my other dives, I loved seeing ornate and thin pipefish for the first time. They are bizarre creatures! Also, a juvenile sweetlips was particularly attractive! There is a bright yellow trunkfish that I would love to have brought home too! On my final dive yesterday I swam with shoals of millions and millions of sardines, so numerous that they cast a dark cloud over the reef making it difficult to see anything else. If you like sardines, it is probably fine to continue eating them! I don't think they are in imminent danger of running out anytime soon.
Here is a picture of the little boats called bangkas that are used for transporting people around the islands. The diving groups all use them too.
The highlight has of course to be a dive amid many whale sharks in Oslob, on the south-east coast of Cebu Island. The adventure started with a very early start at 4.30 AM and a long drive to the dive site. At 7 am I got into a little boat, headed out into the water, and then backflipped into the warm embrace of the ocean! I immediately became aware of many giants around me. The whale shark is the largest extant fish and can attain a length of 12 metres and a weight of more than 20 metric tons! As I stayed motionless on the sand, 9 metres below the surface, the gentle giants glided over and around me many times. Because the water is not cold, I was able to stay as long as my air lasted, a full 56 minutes, a record for me! The brine in the water attracted many other fish too but it was hard to take eyes off the whale sharks!
In my other dives, I loved seeing ornate and thin pipefish for the first time. They are bizarre creatures! Also, a juvenile sweetlips was particularly attractive! There is a bright yellow trunkfish that I would love to have brought home too! On my final dive yesterday I swam with shoals of millions and millions of sardines, so numerous that they cast a dark cloud over the reef making it difficult to see anything else. If you like sardines, it is probably fine to continue eating them! I don't think they are in imminent danger of running out anytime soon.
Here is a picture of the little boats called bangkas that are used for transporting people around the islands. The diving groups all use them too.
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