Magical moment with Gentle Giants in Oslob - Cebu PH

🐋If Steemit has Whales then Cebu has Whale Sharks!🐋

These gentle giants locally known as Butanding are also dwelling in the rich tropical waters of Brgy. Tan-awan Oslob, Cebu Philippines. The place was about 3-4 hours road trip from Cebu city. The most economical way to get there is from Cebu South bus station,  inform the bus driver to drop you off in Tan-awan for Whale shark watching. There are private vans for hire but it can be way too expensive especially if  you're travelling solo. 

I really miss this moment getting close encounter with these wonderful sea creatures. It was really magical. This type of non-mammal vertebrate can grow really huge! 

I read on Wikipedia,  the largest whale shark in record has a length of 12.65 m (41.5 ft) and a weight of about 21.5 t (47,000 lb).

At first you might think,  the whale shark's  big mouth can swallow you instantly just like a piece of cake . The good news is they are slow moving and very gentle  creatures,  plus,  they have a really special diet (compare to us humans lol), what's appetizing for them are planktons, small fishes and shrimps. Inside the whale sharks mouth are rows of tiny teeth used to filter food from the water.

I should give credit to my cousin Flor for taking this beautiful underwater photo =)

In Oslob, there are group of authorized fishermen on their small boats feeding the whale sharks with small shrimps as early as 6:00 AM until 12nn and by that time visitors and divers can start meeting the Whale Sharks . 

So you have to be early. Before you get on the boat, you'll pay a fee of 300 Php or 500 Php if you would like to go snorkelling or swimming  with the whale sharks .  Everyone  is also required to join a short orientation too. Touching the whale shark is strictly prohibited and you should keep a distance of not less than 4-5 ft. If you would go swimming, you shouldn't use sunblock or any lotion or body spray on your skin as it contains chemicals that can be harmful to whale sharks. How I wish everyone is taking these rules seriously by heart. We are all responsible to take good care of these amazing gigantic creatures before they come close to extinction. I read again on Wiki that whale shark's sexual maturity will be at around 30 years and they can live for approximately 70 to 100 years old,  that means it takes a really long time before whale sharks can reproduce.

I spotted one whale shark that has a small scratch in the mouth. It might had hit on the side beams of the boat .  I don't know. The fishermen should be extra careful while feeding them too especially the juvenile whale sharks.

It was really an experience I will never forget in my entire life. I really want to go back there again hopefully  in the future.

Below are the photos I took after the whale shark watching =)

I don't know how many steps we had but it was a long way down from the main road after we got off the bus . Welcome to Seafari !!! 😊

So here it ends my short whale shark adventure. I hope you all enjoyed this post. Thank you again for reading! Cheers from Cebu! @island-girl