25/03/2017
Dive in and see the wild whale sharks of Donsol through this special WWF slideshow!
Your journey begins as you enter Donsol. Once a sleepy town, it now bustles with vigor as the mecca of whale sharks in Asia. WWF helped establish the highly-successful ecotourism programme which helped conserve whale sharks while uplifting the lives of Donsolanos.
After registering, you'll pick out a mask, snorkel, plus a cool pair of fins. Next, you'll meet your crew and board a specially-constructed boat.
Unlike other whale shark tourism offerings, Donsol promotes only wild whale shark interactions - so your spotter will have to work extra-hard to pick out the telltale shadows of sharks.
"THERE!" suddenly motions the spotter. Your Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO) excitedly tells you to gear-up and follow his lead.
You splash into the surf, furiously finning. You're not sure what you'll see - until you see IT.
A Butanding. A whale shark. Earth's largest living fish. Gliding gently, majestically. Accompanied by small pilot fish. To your surprise, you feel tranquilility and not terror - realizing the fish is completely harmless.
You swim with it for a few minutes, then return to your boat, realizing that here in Donsol, the world's largest fish is loved and protected by all.
Images by WWF's Gregg Yan and Jürgen Freund.
