{"id":31388,"date":"2021-03-07T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T06:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/petitesbullesdailleurs\/?p=31388"},"modified":"2024-09-28T20:01:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T18:01:27","slug":"whale-shark-sogod-bay-leyte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/en\/requins-baleines-sogod-bay-leyte-20210307\/","title":{"rendered":"Sogod Bay Whale Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"

I'll take you back to Sogod Bay<\/a>, \"the bay of the whale sharks\", in the south of the island of Leyte, in the Philippines<\/a>... On my first trip there in 2008, I missed them. Twelve years later, I was luckier! <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The biggest fish in the world <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Say the word \"whale shark\"<\/a> (or requin-baleine<\/em> in French) in the middle of an assembly of divers and you will immediately see their eyes shine. Of course, it is the biggest fish in the world. And the most harmless of the great sharks. Enough to make the human beings wearing fins stir...<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the animal is stylish, with its white geometrical tattoos on its huge tapered body. Really, in my eyes, it is the most beautiful and coolest of all sharks! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude0d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The geometric patterns of the whale shark, seen from above, in plankton-laden water. (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, March 2020)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an adult, the whale shark can exceed 10-12 meters<\/a>. And even reach 18-20 meters for the biggest! Another similarity with the whale is that this shark has a huge mouth without teeth - well, it's just like that, its teeth are only a few millimeters long. It is not equipped to bite, it is really a gentle monster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To feed itself, it filters the sea water by opening its mouth wide, gobbling up plankton, small fish and tiny crustaceans. I let you imagine the quantity of proteins needed by such a big animal... <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had already talked a lot about this topic, during two previous diving trips marked by encounters with this big giant of the sea: in the Philippines in 2018<\/a>, and in Mexico in 2014<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

When you like it, you don't count. Impossible to become blas\u00e9 about the whale shark... So I'm really glad I could add a new episode to the series. It was early 2020, in the Philippines, just before the health crisis... <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to Sogod Bay, Whale Shark Bay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whale shark, Rhincodon typus<\/em> of its scientific name, is protected since 1998 in the Philippines<\/a>. It is important to keep in mind that it is a rare and threatened species. In 2016, it went from \"vulnerable\" to \"endangered\" status on the IUCN red list<\/a> (International Union for Conservation of Nature). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Philippines, it is called butanding, tiki-tiki, tuki <\/em>or tawiki<\/em> according to the regions. The waters of the archipelago are frequented by more than 1,950 specimens, according to the Philippine research institute LaMaVe (Large Marine Vertebrates)<\/a>, which makes it one of the largest known whale shark populations in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To hope to see a whale shark, you can force fate a little by going at the right time of the year in areas that it is used to frequent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sogod Bay<\/a>, in the south of the island of Leyte is one of these places. Humans with fins have a good chance to observe these big sharks swimming and feeding along the coast, not far from the small village of Pintuyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When? Between February and April. Sometimes a little earlier or later. Scientists at the LaMaVe Institute say they can be seen as early as November and as late as June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In<\/a>
In the plankton-filled water, snorkelers discover the impressive whale sharks (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, March 2020).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whale sharks return to Sogod Bay almost every year. Their migrations seem to be closely linked to the southwest monsoon. With a bit of luck, we can meet them by chance underwater, while scuba diving, along the drop offs and coral reefs of the bay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the excursions organized specifically to observe them are done on the surface by snorkeling (fins-mask-snorkel). These \"whale shark watching tours\"<\/em><\/em> are usually organized near the southwest coast of Panaon, this long island of about 30 kilometers, which forms the eastern limit of the bay in the south of Leyte. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put below a Google Map and the map of the Peter's Dive Resort dive sites<\/a>, very well done, with a nice whale shark placed not far from Pintuyan, so that you can visualize the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n