This past June, 2016, I enjoyed an experience I thought I would never have – swimming with the Whale Sharks in Cancun, Mexico. A few facts about whale sharks: they are the largest fish in the sea. One of the reasons I was not afraid is that even though they are huge with a maximum weight of 34 tons and a maximum length of 67 feet, their main diet is plankton – not humans. It is believed they can live to be 100 years old. They are not actually whales because they are cold-blooded and breathe through gills. Because they have tooth-like scales called dermal denticles, and there skeletons are made of cartilage, they are more like sharks.
We booked our excursion through Caribbean Connection out of Cancun. Our group took off from the port in Cancun and traveled about 30 miles out into the ocean until we came across a herd of whale sharks. There were approximately 100 whale sharks in the area. Soon, a number of tour boats arrived on the scene. We were allowed to jump into the water two at a time with a guide. I swam with the whale sharks three times for 10 minutes at a time. It was thrilling. These gentle giants would swim right along next to you eating up the plankton. During one of my swims, a whale shark came straight at me with his mouth wide open. He could have swallowed me with one gulp. The thing that is so weird to me is that I wasn\’t scared at all. I was more afraid of accidently hurting them than I was of them hurting me. What an experience!