. 4r 



wenty-five-foot whale shark swims just below the surface at 

 Ningaloo Reef, off Australia's west coast. 



ed, it would pull out in a matter of days. With a quick 

 shove of the polespear, I pushed the dart deeper. The 

 shark reacted with a flick of its tail, then dove. 



I watched with satisfaction as the tagged shark sank 

 slowly into the depths. 1 felt a jolt to my lower back, 

 and suddenly found myself being propelled through 

 the water. All I could see was a whirl of spots. It took 

 me a moment to comprehend that another, much 

 larger whale shark had struck me with its dorsal fin 

 and was pushing me forward. With all the excite- 

 ment, I had completely forgotten about the second 

 shark! Stunned but unhurt, I dislodged myself and 

 swam back to the boat to reload my polespear. By 

 the time I returned, the second whale shark was about 

 twenty-five feet beneath the sea surface. I filled my 

 lungs with air, then dove after the thirty-five-foot 

 leviathan. This time the dart penetrated with ease, 

 and the shark showed no reaction. My job complet- 



ed, I swam back to the vessel and learned that the 

 plane had located more sharks. In spite of my little 

 fright, there would be no time to dwell on it that day. 

 Whale sharks were popping up everywhere. 



Fortunately, accidental clobbering is the only dan- 

 ger whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) present to 

 people. Unlike their toothier, more aggressive rela- 

 tives, whale sharks have such gentle dispositions that 

 the chance to swim with them has spawned lucrative 

 ecotourism industries in several places w here they 

 gather. Ningaloo Reef, the Philippines, Belize, and 

 the Baja Peninsula of Mexico have all benefited from 

 whale shark tourism. But the same lumbering slow - 

 ness and tendency to swim near the surface that make 

 whale sharks a favorite w ith snorkelers also make them 

 easy targets tor fishermen, and frequent victims of col- 

 lisions w ith ships. Before the mid-1980s, only a tew 



April 2006 NATURA1 HISTORY 



43 



