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In mid 2012 I brought another a group of divers andfamilies to Dumagete on Negros in the Philippines. Itwas our third visit here so we knew we’d havesuperb diving with great biodiversity. We settled intoour home on the beach with Apo Island glistening in

the warm sunshine. Open Water Course candidates weresoon bubbling in the pool, while more experienceddivers set up their gear for their first dive on the housereef. Snorkellers checked out the thriving fish life off thebeach, discovering clownfish, slithering snowflake morayeels, or being buzzed by a large titan triggerfish with abad attitude and a mean set of teeth! Batteries werecharged, and o-rings greased for dives at Apo Island.Others relaxed by the pool or began organising theirlocal tours.

The glassy calm seas and hot sunshine were the perfectescape from Melbourne’s dreary winter. Diving the Dauincoastline south of Dumaguete has gained a reputation formacro with a mix of muck diving interspersed withhealthy coral bommies and has been described as‘Lembeh with visibility’! You can expect to see variousfrogfish, ornate ghost pipefish, fields of garden eels andnudibranchs plus solitary greatbarracuda and pulsating schools ofred toothed triggerfish. Just 30minutes away, Apo Island deliversclassic blue water, pristine hardcorals, loads of green turtles,spiralling schools of trevally and, onthe last trip, a free-swimming whaleshark. I was restricted to the surface;according to my diving doctor abadly broken arm in a fibreglass castmade scuba highly risky. He’demphasised all sorts of issuesincluding the likely increased risk ofDCS, and the dangers of being in ahostile environment! But I enjoyed theswims in the shallows, includingbeing immersed in a school of tinyKlein’s butterflyfish at Dauin Southwhich pecked at the hairs on theback of my hand! When you are stilland quiet with no tank and noisybubbles, it is amazing what you see!

Highlights of the trip were many – theFilipino people were universallyfriendly, kind and generous with theirsmiles. But one of the most incredibleexperiences this and any trip was atthe fishing village of Oslob on nearbyCebu. From around October 2011

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local fishermen developed an unusual relationship with alarge number’of whale sharks or ‘butanding’ in the localdialect. The whale sharks fed on shrimp or ‘uyap’ overthe local reefs and had started to follow the fishermencatching juvenile shrimp during the evenings. The shrimprise with the moon and move into the shallows, followedby feeding whale sharks that move right into theshoreline. A few handfuls of casually offered uyapestablished a pattern of behaviour which has continuedsince.

The fishermen soon realised the tourist potential thisattraction offered, and the word went out. Things rapidlyescalated and soon Oslob was bursting at the seams;there were reports of up to 2000 people arriving in oneday, clumsy touching and harassment, and finally aphoto of a young lady standing (yes… standing!) on theback of a whale shark (it wasn’t from Oslob – but itcould have been). Atmosphere Resort and the DumagueteDive Association acted quickly to boycott the site early in2012 as something had to be done. Managementguidelines were introduced that were amongst the moststringent anywhere, though application and

IN 33 YEARS I’D ONLY ONCEDIVED WITH A WHALE SHARK – ITWAS A BRIEF OFF-SEASONGLIMPSE OF A SPOTTED GIANT INTHE MALDIVES. NO PHOTOS, JUSTA FADING MEMORY OFWATCHING THE LARGEST FISH INTHE WORLD DISAPPEAR INTO THEHAZE. MY SECOND ENCOUNTERWITH RHINCODON TYPUS WASENTIRELY DIFFERENT – UP CLOSEAND PERSONAL WITH FOUR OFTHESE MAGNIFICENT CREATURES.

UNFORGETTABLEENCOUNTERS

ALAN WIGGS © 2013


There’s been some understandablecontroversy over this feed, which is fairlytypical of similar interactions, includingother shark feeds at various dive sitesaround the planet. It must be recognisedthis is a fairly artificial experience, as thebutanding are ‘held’ in the area byintermittent feeding from the localfishermen. The few handfuls of shrimpsupplements not replaces their normalfeeding patterns but there areunderstandably concerns whether thismay interrupt their natural migrations.

Steve de Neef, Atmosphere Resort’sphoto-pro, is currently researching withLAMAVE (Large Marine Vertebrate Project)and has identified 47 whale sharksmoving through the area, with betweensix and nine staying as residents. So,there is some evidence that many of thesharks are moving on. But, Steve alsophotographed ‘Fermin’, a large male witha worrying set of parallel gashes thatmay be the result of a boat propeller.Although only outrigger canoes withpaddles are allowed at Oslob, it ispossible that the association of ‘boatequals shrimp handout’ could have led toconflict with a power boat outside theMarine Park.

Another issue is the concerning precedentthis sets, as there are now reports of asimilar activity developing at Moalboal.So where does it all end? While this maynot be a perfect relationship, it certainlyis preferable to what happened only afew years ago, when some of thesewhale sharks may well been capturedand butchered for village consumptiondespite being ‘protected’. This protectionhas proved inadequate in many parts ofthe Philippines and in 2010 a whaleshark was found dying in the shallows ofTingloy province with every fin hackedoff. Another found in June 2011 hadbeen stabbed six times and its tail cut off.Still known as ‘tofu shark’ in some partsof Asia, what we see at Oslob is certainlya more sustainable approach, though thecosts and benefits need to be weighedand more research must be done. And onthe positive side, the presence of so manysharks in one place provides uniqueopportunities for scientific research.

Yes, it is at the very least, an intrusion.But so are the boatloads of divers hittingBlue Corner at Palau day after day, orBarracuda Point at Sipadan. Wedominate and intrude everywhere fromthe slopes of the Himalaya to the penguin >

reinforcement were slow to develop. Onemajor step was to increase Marine Parkfees, effectively pricing out a lot of thelocals (sad in some respects, but therewere just too many people!) An EducationCentre was set up where snorkellers werebriefed on guidelines which include theobvious ones such as no touching; noflash photography and a minimumdistance of 5 metres from fuselage and 6metres from the tail. All power boats wereprohibited in the Marine Park and therestriction of 30 minutes in water alsohelped reduce crowding, and the feedingclosed off each day at 1:00 p.m.

By early July 2012, Gabriele Holder,Dive Manager at Atmosphere Resort, wascautiously satisfied that the situation hadimproved and we were the first group tobe given the chance to snorkel with theOslob whale sharks. We were offered thisas a day trip with a mixture of minibusand ferry transfers over to Oslob –roughly two hours each way. AtmosphereResort has adopted the WWF policies ofno scuba, though it’s a doubtful benefit asthe butanding are very much at thesurface.

Oslob now has a cottage whale sharktourism industry and small stalls sellsharky T-shirts and trinkets from leaf thatchshelters; just off the beach the dugoutcanoes are moored, and there’s anoccasional glimpse of rounded dorsalfins. We geared up, were briefed at thecentre and clambered awkwardly aboardthe tiny outriggers, our diveboats for themorning. Sliding below the glassysurface, we found four butanding in ourfield of view. We tried to observe the ‘fivemetre rule’ but they often came in closer –one almost backed into another whilsttrying to avoid the one in front! Therewas no crowding, only a few groups ofsnorkelers were in the water at three orfour feeding stations hundreds of metresapart. With some 20(!) butanding in thebay that morning it was easy to dispersethe groups. What I saw reassured meabout the management – the wholesituation was handled well by the local‘shark-spotters’ who seemed to displaygenuine concern, even affection, for themagnificent creatures. It was inspiring,beautiful, unique. Though we were onlyallowed 30 minutes in the water, it was30 minutes immersed in their presence,closer than I’d expected. The whalesharks came to us’ rather than we tothem.

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rookeries of Antarctica. But tourismmight yet save the penguins ofAntarctica, the trevally at Sipadanor the whale sharks of thePhilippines. By the time this articlehits the stands it may all be over –either the butanding may havemoved on, or regulationsforbidding their feeding may havebeen be introduced.

We returned to a freezing coldthree degree Melbourne wintermorning still amazed by what we’d witnessed. Thebutanding were just the icing on the cake for another superbtrip to The Philippines – an unexpected bonus we hadn’tsigned on for. Dumaguete, the town of the gentle people,and Atmosphere Resort will always be one of my favourite options, whale sharksor not.

If you get the chance, go experience the Oslob whale sharks and make up yourown mind…

V I S A Y A S

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