9 Feb, Wed

Wed, 9 Feb. today i woke up excited about the possibility of seeing a Whale Shark! Abi, on the other hand, woke up with what i had on Sunday. she was going no-where today. in talking to the Dive Master on the boat, i learned that the 'flu' is going around the island. with half the island infected. i am actually happy to learn that it was the flu that i had; and not that it was something i ate. i didn't like feeling skeptical about everything i ate the rest of my time here. i did get a flu shot before i left Kzoo, so perhaps that prevented me from being sicker than i was. yeahhh for American drugs ! :) . we had our morning meeting ..... and the result of yesterday's misunderstanding: all volunteers will now be required to be IN the 'office' from 9am to 12noon working on our projects; and we need to work through the proper channels for any other activities. these 'office hours' are new. during our initial orientation we were told that we were responsible for getting our projects completed. Since Abi couldn't make it, Nicole was released to go with me to WSORC. i'll spare you the details by saying it was really an unorganized mess and i was 'in charge' of it. but we got everyone paid up, release forms signed, equipment fitted, ice water, glasses, and people on the boat by 12:55. the Captain leaves at 1pm sharp. it was a nice big boat and there were 15 of us. we headed out to the deep blue towards the island of Roatan. after about an hour, the Dive Master started yelling, 'put on your equipment, get in the water, Whale Shark' ! OMG, everyone was so excited! only 8 people are allowed in the water at one same time with the Whale Shark. i was in the first group, but the last one in the water. by the time i got in, it was gone :(. i saw a few real sharks, the kind with teeth, and some jellyfish, but no Whale Shark. we were in the water a total of about 8min and then we were back in the boat, .... searching again. searching, this is the amazing part. all that water, and we're trying to find a Whale Shark. they are big, but so are the seas, and they only surface to feed. i don't know how he does it, but Captain Willy is one of the best in finding them. this is the scenario that he is looking for: .... a lot of birds flying over what they call "boils" because it looks like the water is boiling. the fish are jumping out of the water because a Whale Shark is coming up from the depths with it's mouth open to feed. and the birds are there to pick off the fish. it looks like this. and the fish that are jumping are not the ones the Whale Shark eats, they are too big, but they feed on the smaller fish and plankton, so that's why they are there, and just trying to get out of the way. Utila is the only place that the Whale Shark 'hunts' this way. usually it cruises along the surface with it's mouth open through one of these 'boils'. but here, the 'boils' are smaller in diameter, so it makes more sense for the Whale Shark to come up from the bottom to get them. ...pretty smart, aren't they? the Whale Shark is the largest fish in the sea ... and it eats the smallest fish in the sea! another hour later, and more than half the way to Roatan, (i could actually see homes on the island), the excitement started again. the second group got in the water ... almost on top of the Whale Shark. it was right there. they ALL got to see it. i was in the boat and this was all i saw, and took these 2 photos ... can you see it's fin ... i know, .... barely ... and it doesn't look very impressive for a fish that was 15ft long. and the dorsal fin and tail fin in this one. i know, you have to look close, and use your imagination. :( i was disappointed; but am hopeful that i'll have another chance before i leave. a 2hr ride back, cleaned up, and slowly walked home. no dinner out for me tonight. that was a long day.