One Saturday back in April 2004, I decided somewhat hastily to go to Donsol, Sorsogon, at the southern tip of Luzon in the Philippines, to check out the whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), also known in Bicolano as Butanding. It is a three-hour drive south from Naga to Donsol by way of Daraga, Albay, giving me a chance to check out Mayon volcano. The perfect cone appears to have been damaged by recent eruptions as viewed from the Camalig/Guinobatan side. Sorsogon is one of the six provinces in Southern Luzon in the Philippines which belong to what is referred to as the Bicol Region.
I arrived in Donsol at the Butanding Interaction Center in Woodland Resort at around 9:15 am, and was on a boat with a crew of four by 9:30 am. Why four? Well, it turns out that I needed a motor operator, a pilot, a spotter and a guide, otherwise known as a BIO (Butanding Interaction Officer). This was a very good and conscientious crew.
Within thirty minutes, we had ten sightings of the Butanding, and a total of 17 sightings in one hour. I was not sure if these sightings were all different individuals but they did look different to me. Some were big and long (males), others shorter and wider (females). Some were juveniles. Some had damaged tails or fins (a.k.a. the BIO called one individual Putol) and others had scars (scar face, etc.) It also helped that March to May is the best time to watch these gentle giants and that the moon was full, which supposedly encourages greater activity among them. I was not prepared to snorkel, and so did not see the sharks at even closer range, short of touching them. The Center was run by an NGO in cooperation with the local government, and was doing well in helping the local fisherfolk earn income from eco-tourism. By the time my boat sailed out into the bay, thirty other trips had already been initiated on that day to interact with the Butanding. Apparently, if I went out to the bay when the center opened at 7:30 am, I would have seen the Butanding surfacing even more. But the sightings I experienced at 9:30-10:00 am were close enough.
The NGO turned out to be the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It appears that whale sharks have long swarmed Donsol waters to feed on the bay's abundant plankton. The sharks had coexisted peacefully with locals, when in 1997, word got out that the rare shark and the world's largest fish migrated to Donsol every summer. This spurred Donsol officials to organize a whale shark interaction program for tourists and to declare Donsol as a whale shark sanctuary. WWF, under a matching grant from US Agency for International Development, began providing support in 2004 to ensure that Donsol's growing tourism contributes to both marine conservation and local livelihoods. Hunting of this vulnerable population of whale sharks is now banned to deal with constant threats from hunters attracted by the lucratively priced shark fins and meat.
Donsol municipality is also promoting a river cruise and firefly tour as part of its diversification program of ecotourism activities. The Regional Director of Tourism for Bicol proudly reports that, in the past five years, Donsol has moved from being one of the poorest to one of the richest municipalities in the Bicol region.
In November, 2004, Time Asia Magazine's 2004 Best of Asia Report selected whale shark watching in Donsol as best animal encounter.
A good weblink on the whale sharks of Donsol is www.camperspoint.com
Gil Dy-Liacco traces his roots to Naga City in the Philippines, and works with USAID/Philippines as Mission Economist and Deputy Chief for Program Resources Management.
Globetrotter Jon Hornbuckle wrote in to add his experience of whale sharks: the only time I saw a whale-shark was off San Blas, west Mexico in Feb. We took a small boat off-shore to look for birds and were surprised to see the relatively small whale-shark right by the boat, quite common at this time according to the boatman.