Swimming happily with huge sharks
08 January 2014 | Anchorage by El Mogote, La Paz, Mexico
Photo: A reminder to watch for whale-sharks in Bahia La Paz, Mexico
Although La Paz may not have the wild, vacation night-life that can be found in places like Cabo San Lucas, there are many opportunities for eco-adventures including boat-trips to swim with sea lions or with whale sharks. Martha had (sensibly it turned out) declined to participate in either of these activities so Randall and I signed-up for a whale shark tour after Martha’s return to California.
Whale sharks are protected in Mexico and are considered an endangered species worldwide. We had seen a 20-foot long (6 m) specimen from Tregoning’s decks when we were circling in Panama City Bay, avoiding the risk of a tsunami from the large Chilean earthquake in February 2010. Since then we had really wanted to see one while underwater and this sounded like our best opportunity. Although the world’s largest fish can live as long as 80 to 100 years and grow up to 60 ft long (18 m), the ones feeding on the north side of El Mogote in Bahía de la Paz are juveniles, mostly of a similar size to the one we saw in Panama or a little smaller. They are still big enough to be very impressive.
Although it is said to be possible to go in your own boat, the details of the necessary permits are a bit sketchy (some say only a National Park Pass is needed, others that a list of rules must be carried, etc.) and it is probably much more a matter of good luck whether you find the whale sharks and can easily get near to them from your yacht or dinghy. Also, since 60% of these gentle-giants have been hit by boats, we decided that it would be better to pay to go on a permitted, local boat and not add our propeller to the crowd.
Numerous drivers of pangas offer to take you from the beach by the Malecón probably quite cheaply but we decided to go with a larger boat from the dive-shop at Marina de La Paz. With the additional sales tax, the price was about US$75 each but in the end we both agreed that the trip was worth every penny although we started to have our doubts when we came across the first shark.
It had been a surprisingly long, high-speed ride to where the whale sharks were feeding (which would have taken at least a couple hours in Tregoning) so by the time we arrived the seven of us customers were quite anxious to see one. Unfortunately, the first one we reached was already surrounded by a crowd of more than a dozen frantically kicking snorkelers, including one person with a camera who appeared to be hitching a ride by holding on to the poor animal’s dorsal fin. Touching the whale sharks, or getting within 6 ft or 2 m of them, is prohibited so our guide was shouting at the culprit to “No tocar”- not touch. One of our boat’s customers started loudly scolding the miscreant also (although it was unlikely he could hear much with his ears underwater) so the whole atmosphere was chaotic and unpleasant. I had worried about whether the whale sharks would be stressed by us tourists and this initial impression came close to putting us off the whole activity.
Fortunately, our captain and guide were very professional and quickly departed from this depressing scene until we came close to another whale shark that was not being harassed. Following our guide’s instructions, we slipped quietly into the water and soon found ourselves swimming a respectful distance from, and alongside, one of these massive creatures. Although for a moment I regretted not having an underwater camera to capture some sense of the incredible experience, in the end it would not have been possible to do any justice to the beauty and grace of these checker-board-patterned giants. The water was pretty murky so to get close enough for a clear photograph would only have included the view of a small portion of the fish and in the end, the most memorable part of the experience was simply swimming alongside and admiring.
The water was not very clear because that is why the whale sharks visit Bahía de La Paz in the winter. They are filter-feeders and so come to this area when the blooms of plankton are prolific. Most of the whale sharks had numerous remora fish clinging to their tails giving the appearance that they had swum through and caught various ribbons on their large, powerful tails.
During our three sorties out of the boat to view different whale sharks, Randall and I each found ourselves at some point alone with one of the sharks and fully able to enjoy the privilege without concern about getting in the way of the animal or another snorkeler. Keeping up with a feeding whale shark is not for the lazy swimmer and I found myself finning strongly to stay alongside. When swimming back to the boat, we were each startled at some stage by a huge white mouth looming at us from out of the gloom and found ourselves quickly dodging aside or down so as not to get in the shark’s way. After such a sight, we were fully appreciative that these particular sharks’ mouths are not full of teeth.
Despite the rather inauspicious start to this adventure, by the time our boat was roaring back to La Paz with us huddling on the floor to stay out of the wind, it seemed that we were all deep in thought absorbing what amazing sights we had just seen. We were all appreciative that our captain and guide had kept us away from the undignified melee and had insisted that we behave calmly and respectfully around the whale sharks.
The following day, we hiked up the hill that overlooks Marina Palmira and from which we had a fabulous view of La Paz and El Mogote. Seeing the sea’s shades of blue and green helped us to appreciate the shallow sandbanks that are avoided when entering the harbor along the narrow entrance channel. We also realized quite how far we had gone to find the whale sharks.
In the evening, we met Al and Lindy to watch the BCS College football final at the Tailhunter Restaurant, mostly surrounded by other Americans. After dinner, Lindy and I played dominoes as neither of us was too excited about the football game. We had taught Al and Lindy Mexican-Train dominoes a few evenings beforehand, when our brilliance as teachers was demonstrated by them both beating both of us soundly!
After a final stock-up at the organic-farmers’ market, we moved from Marina Palmira to anchor near El Motoge. We took the dinghy into Marina de La Paz that afternoon and were thrilled to find that Salvadore had our temporary residents’ cards. We were very glad to get them because we could not leave the La Paz area until we had them. We will have to renew them within a year and we must file paperwork to cancel them before we leave Mexico.
With these cards it is possible to sign-up for Mexican healthcare-coverage but an interview has to be arranged and a fee paid so it is rather unlikely that we will use that entitlement, given that it would not be worth cancelling our US coverage for the period we are likely to be in Mexico. There are other benefits associated with the temporary resident status but for us few of them are likely to be worthwhile. Given the fees that are associated with renewal and cancellation, it is questionable whether these cards were really worth the expense and effort for us, maybe instead we should have arranged to leave the country every six months. Without sufficient information available at the time we had to make a decision whether to start the application process in San Francisco, this is how we learn…
Al and Lindy were thrilled to get their temporary residency cards at the same time because they were anxious to get going to the mainland where they will be meeting a succession of visitors. Although we were sorry to say farewell, we will undoubtedly see them again on the mainland coast sometime during the next few months. They left La Paz along with Cameron on SV Roughneck early on Wednesday morning while we scurried around town and the boat, buying provisions and making our own preparations to leave La Paz.