Posts tagged ‘whale shark’

Reef Cleanup and Whale Shark for Explorers Club

By frankie, 1 March, 2010, No Comment

Lately the SE Asia Explorers club has been looking at ways of getting more involved in the ecological side of  diving.  As a result a reef cleanup was planned on the local house reef, Sairee Beach.  As a way of encouraging more people from outside the club to join we organised  a first dive at Chumphon Pinnacles before returning to Sairee to do the reef cleanup.  Happily for us lots of people were more than happy to get their fingers dirty and get involved.

So after a couple of days of drumming up divers and preparing the site, we were all ready to go.  Heading out bright and early on the morning boat, the sun was shining and a gentle hum of chatter and preparation on what was a very busy boat.  Arriving at the site, conditions as often are at this time of the year, were great. Little current and good visibility.  Descending to the top of the pinnacle we were greeted by a big school of yellowtail barracudas intermingling with some big trevallies. You might all remember from a previous post when cleaning nets from the pinnacle we were lucky enough to see two whale sharks and once again Chumphon didn’t disappoint.

The normal size for these giant pelagics in this area is usually around 3m, so we were gratefully surprised to see larger specimen of nearly 5m. For a lot of the divers on the boat this was their first sighting and being in a playful frame of mind, they were able to spend nearly the entire dive with this graceful creature. A special moment for anyone present.

Back on the boat we began the ride of about 30 minutes back towards Koh Tao.  The team having done some reconnaisance earlier in the week had marked a number of areas on the reef that needed particular attention.

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BSAC divers see bull sharks and whale shark!!!

By frankie, 2 February, 2010, No Comment

Getting out of bed at 6:30 on any morning is never an easy thing to do, but of course the opportunity to head out to  Chumphon Pinnacles always makes it worthwhile. As it was the full moon, we had to do a thorough check of the tide tables and weather conditions. Even though we were aiming for slack, we knew there would be a distinct possibility of some current and reduced visibility on the site. However surface conditions were perfect and we decided it was worth a visit.

Heading towards the shot line at the site, it was clear that we had managed to hit slack pretty well and there was very little surface current. But as expected visibility was fairly murky. Good conditions for seeing sharks. Chumphon Pinnacles is known for its shark sitings and that morning it didn’t let us down. As we headed around Barracuda Rock out of the thermocline  at about 25m came a big female bull of about two and a half metres followed by a smaller one of about one and a half . As it was my divers first experience with these impressive predators it was a special moment for them.  We hovered in the same area for about 10 minutes and then swam back towards the main pinnacle all the time the sharks were below us occasionaly moving up to our level of about 18m and then darting back into the murk below. As we surfaced there were woops of joy from Markus and Philip and we still had another dive to go. This was shaping into a really good morning.

After a cup of coffee and a chat on the boat we arrived at our second port of call, White Rock. This a shallower site closer in to Koh Tao, but still known for its abundant marine life, especially stingrays. Visibility was still not perfect but still close to 10m. As it was we had a very enjoyable dive, seeing moray eels, stingrays and of course the resident triggerfish but as we neared our deco stop I heard a constant banging not far away. Signalling my divers to follow me, we went too see what all the fuss was about. Then I saw it heading straight towards me, the mecca for all divers, the whale shark!! It was only a baby, maybe 3m, surrounded by ramoras and shark suckers, but these fish never seem to leave you in anything but a state of awe. Gracefully gliding by and then turning swimming up and over our bubble trail. Even under the water I could see the glee in Markus and Philip’s faces.

As we were getting low on air we had to surface after about 10 minutes, but it had still be an incredible experience to end what had been a brilliant mornings diving. The chatter on the boat as we headed home was non-stop. So to Markus and Philip wherever you are, I hope you enjoyed a great days diving and come back and see us again soon.

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Team of divers from SE Asia Explorers club remove nets from dive site and had the pleasure of seeing 2 whale sharks

By frankie, 13 December, 2009, No Comment
Whale shark at Chumphon

Whale shark at Chumphon

A team of divers from the SE Asia Explorers club yesterday removed a fishing net which had been covering a large portion of one of the main dive sites on Koh Tao, Chumphon Pinnacles.  Unfortunately in the surrounding area there is a lot of fishing and sometimes the inevitable happens and one is caught on these underwater sea mounts.  Having previously dived Chumphon the day before the team had already seen the destruction left by the net on the reef and decided that it needed to be removed.

The team met the following day to discuss the best way to remove it safely. The net was attached along a wall section of the pinnacle from a depth of 25m up to 14m and obviously there was a risk of divers becoming entangled.  As a result it was decided to attach a number of lift bags along the bottom of the net and then gradually peel it from the reef all the time keeping the divers below the net and out of harms way.

We headed out in the late afternoon so as to be the only boat there. Conditions  were a little choppy but otherwise pretty good. As we descended there was a little current but soon we were in the lee of the pinnacle and began attaching the lift bags to the bottom of the net.  Naturally the team were concentrating on the job in hand but as we came towards the top one of the team spotted a large whale shark passing behind clearly checking we were doing the job correctly.  We finished removing the net and began to head back to the line, but as we did so out of the blue came another whale shark! This time it was a baby of only about 3-4m, and as we hovered there it continued to swim around and over the team.  This was a wonderful encounter especially as we were the only divers in the water. We reached the surface and found the net and lift bags and then dragged it to the RIB.  The trip home was a little bumpy but after such a successful afternoon, no-one really minded.

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