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Posted by Lauren Smith on

A Major Lesson from Palau June 2010

A major lesson from Palau

Palau is unlike many other countries in that it actually recognizes what it has i.e.: world class dive sites and instead of ruining and exploiting such a resource it embraces it and protects it.

I was particularly interested in how they were putting into practice their shark sanctuary policy (as unveiled to the world in September 2009) which banned the landing of sharks or shark fins by local or international vessels in Palauan waters. How is it policed? Does it work?

It is likely that to make such a bold statement as to declare your national waters a shark sanctuary you would have to be sure it would work, and of course it does.

Although in truth I believe if it was going to work anywhere it would be here due to a number of reasons; there was no existing international trade of shark meat or shark products, local fishermen avoid catching shark as they cannot sell it and Palauan’s do not eat it themselves.

Most of the islands are considered National Parks and so permits are required for visitors which are inspected by park rangers and finally the dive companies are savvy when it comes to issuing visitors with permits (it reflects badly on the company if their customers are not in possession of a valid permit and has consequences to boot) as well as their almost daily presence within their waters which must act as a strong deterrent to any international fishing vessels.

The ocean itself is also fundamental to the story of the creation of Palau (the country being born from a giant clam) as well as ocean practices such as fishing being featured in numerous folklore; being used to teach several morals and values.

For a country which only claimed independence in 1994 (having been owned/occupied by Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States). Palau stands in its own right as an example I wish we all could follow as a haven for sharks and other reef life. I must leave now, however I am keen to return especially during March time which is the Grey Reef Shark breeding season, which see’s specific dive sites teem with hundreds of shark’s (imagine that – perfection!).

So as I return to Manila for a final time, I can reflect on what an amazing time I have had both in the Philippines and Palau.

I would like to express my gratitude to Donsol Eco-Tour who enabled me to have some truly amazing encounters with Whale sharks which I will never forget, The TSRCP which gave me Thresher Sharks and so much more besides, Fish N’ Fins a super-duper dive experience in Palau and of course the guys at SSACN and SSTP who without which my computer illiterate self would never have been able to make this blog possible!

Finally thanks to all who kept up to date with this blog, I hope you found it informative and entertaining and I hope that in the future there will be plenty more like it!

Am I ready to go home for a while? Am I heck … bring on the next adventure!

Cheers to that!

Posted by Lauren Smith on

The Giants of the Ocean April 2010

The Giants of the Ocean

LOL – Lauren on Location – Lauren gambles with the ATM and gets to swim with whale sharks.

After a good nights sleep in Manila I was back in the Airport this time flying domestic with Cebu Pacific (terminal 3), to Legaspi in South Luzon, here I was hopefully meeting up with a representative from Donsol EcoTour / PADI Dive Asia who I had been corresponding with for some months and then travelling to Donsol where I would be staying and (fingers and toes crossed) going out to see the whale sharks.
A mild panic at the airport ensued when I decided to get some more cash out just incase (I had previously exchanged travellers cheques and some US currency at Manila airport and for ease I would recommend other travellers to do the same), I had put my card in the ATM (Country Bank) and it had accepted my PIN but froze when about to dispense the cash, I waited a little while and then thought I should probably press cancel, when my card was still not spat out I became slightly worried and just as my mind started to go into action plan mode of phoning the bank etc, my card re-appeared – phew! I later learnt that it is best to use BDO ATM’s and I would urge others to use these where-ever possible (note the limit for some ATMS is 10,000 pesos per day, however at times certain ATMs will not dispense the 10,000 – instead giving you less, and in other cases it is possible to put your card in several times extracting 5,000 each time – almost like a game…. almost).

 

The flight across with Cebu Pacific was like no other I have ever experienced! Mid flight the air hostesses play a game where they shout an item out and the first to wave it in the air wins an airline travel pouch, believe me I have never seen so much energy, excitement and enthusiasm on a flight before! Excellent!

 

On the flight I was seated next to a couple from Arizona, G & Ray, we started chatting and fuelling each others excitement at the prospect of seeing whale sharks the following day. When we landed I felt like what I used to refer to as a “Champagne Backpacker” (someone who claims to be travelling but insists on staying in hotels and who refuses to use the public / cattle class transport), this feeling however did not prevent me from climbing gratefully into the air conditioned pickup that had been provided for me by my Donsol EcoTour contact.

 

Legaspi is quite striking with Mt Mayon the volcano as the backdrop to the town, as we made our way through the city the concentration of shops and people became less and the landscape gave way to coconut palms, banana trees and rice paddies, the journey through to Donsol took about 1hour and 10 minutes, upon arrival I went into the PADI Dive Asia shop and registered to go out on a boat the following morning; at this point I must pause to thank Jessica Noelle Wong with whom I had been corresponding before my trip and also Ruby Lita who took care of me on-site, their help and generosity enabled me to go out on 2 trips free of charge, the value of such actions are immense in a place where money provided by the whale shark ecotourism venture is vital to its continued success and existence.

 

That evening I watched the sunset on the beach which gave way to a brilliant red sky, at which point I had already begun praying to the shark god for a whale shark sighting the following day (red sky at night, Lauren’s delight?). I headed to bed full of hope…

 

I should never have been worried … over the 2 days I was spoilt with 10 whale shark sightings!!!!! All of which I was able to swim / freedive with, the largest shark was estimated at around 12m, the longest interaction time I had was about 20 minutes, and I am pretty sure that one of the females was pregnant (as I dove down her lower abdomen was extremely swollen). The buzz I got out of being in the water with these animals was phenomenal, their grace, their patterns and colouration and of course their immense size.
Here I was cruising along with the biggest fish in the sea – I say cruising, they were cruising, 1 slight change in direction for them meant some hard fin work for me! Just incredible sharks and I felt honoured to be in the water next to them, the length of time with the animals also allowed my mind to register the fact that here I was in their presence, this led to much “YES WHALE SHARKS !!!!” being shouted in my head, plenty of fist clenching and grinning (which led inadvertently to me joining in with the whale sharks diet of plankton, thanks to me flooding my snorkel on more than 1 occasion).
The huge female (12m) which hung around for 20 minutes was exceptional, she gave me eye contact on more than 1 occasion, but didn’t appear to be bothered by me presence in the slightest; after all I probably qualified as an oversized remora with me measuring in at (1.5m). When it came time to let this female be on her way I dropped back and followed behind her for a little while from an appropriate distance, which was immense – I mean how many times do you get to ride a whale sharks wake?!

 

Way too amazing!

 

On the evening of the 9th I met up with Jackie Ziegler, a whale shark researcher investigating the effects of whale shark ecotourism around the world for her Masters thesis. I had spoken to her earlier in the day about ongoing whale shark research and sharks / elasmobranchs in general and was eager to discuss more. I headed to where she was staying which turned out to be the Mayors house in Donsol (Mayor Alcantera’s), there I enjoyed rather too much local hospitality and was spoilt with home cooking (had my first encounter with pigs intestine!) but primarily with (what felt like gallons) of Red Horse Beer, G & Ray also joined us which was great but after 5 hours Jackie got more than she bargained for when I had to stay with her for the night having had too much Red Horse to go anywhere!
I left Donsol the following day with a slight headache, but most importantly feeling like I had a connection with the place despite having spent less than 4 days there in total, mind-blowing sharks and incredible people an experience never to be forgotten.

 

LOL – Lauren on Location