Whale Shark at Batu Katoka

Well, after 1,000s of dives, I've finally done it - been in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment to get my ultimate whale shark video.

Watch this in HD720p from a dive last Saturday afternoon (October 2010) just 160nm NE of Singapore: http://www.peterwalker.com/peterwalker.com/WhaleShark.html

The video looks OK on the web but it looks superb on a large screen. You should should see the Bluray version on a big screen TV - fantastic.

Conditions were perfect. I saw the whale shark right at the beginning of the dive, just as I was descending through 10 meters. The whale shark circled around several times over 10 minutes. I had a wide-angle lens on my video camera. There were only 4 divers in my group and none had a camera so they were happy to hang back and let me get in close. No annoying flashes. The sea was calm. The sun was shining. Absolutely perfect!

And the amazing thing is that this was not a far-flung destination - I was on a weekend liveaboard from Singapore...

Regards

Peter

Equipment: Sony 550 in L&M Bluefin 550 Housing with Fathom 90 Lens.

Wow, nice video! You people are so lucky!!! I m so envious! Must ask my friend to go ahead and book that White Manta trip he is eyeing on...

Well done Peter, great shots!

Nice video! All 3 of the whale sharks that I have seen were in those waters, 2 on the Seven Skies and 1 on the Repulse. Always makes my day.

Got to be happy with that, being on scuba and having it hang around like it did.

Congrats....

Got to be happy with that, being on scuba and having it hang around like it did.

Congrats....

Mainly just luck to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment. I'm amazed that I didn't have a brain freeze and shoot the whole thing focus-locked on 0.1 meters...

I keep watching the video on our big TV saying "F#$%ing Amazing!".

Regards

Peter

lovely shots! looks like the color is off a bit though.

i was in cocos over the summer and had a front seat view of a whale shark hovering in a cleaning station in a 45 degree vertical position getting cleaned. of course i didn't have my video camera with me at the time!! it was such an amazing sight....until one of the still photogs decided to charge right up to her and scare it off...arrggggg!

Mainly just luck to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment.

Correct, it`s so simple )

Stunning footage!

lovely shots! looks like the color is off a bit though.

What would you recommend on the color. On a Mac, it looks bluish-green, quite close to the actual conditions. On a Sony HD TV, it looks quite blue.

Should it be more blue on the vimeo version? I'd need to do a separate version because I wouldn't want to Bluray-DVD version to be any more blue.

Regards

Peter

i was in cocos over the summer and had a front seat view of a whale shark hovering in a cleaning station in a 45 degree vertical position getting cleaned. of course i didn't have my video camera with me at the time!! it was such an amazing sight....until one of the still photogs decided to charge right up to her and scare it off...arrggggg!

Most of my previous whale shark experiences have been frustrated by dive guides banging on their tanks and hordes of divers all finning like crazy towards the poor creature. No wonder they turn tail and disappear.

Divers are generally intelligent, well-educated people who gone through a fair bit of training to get where they are. Don't they understand how a creature will react if faced with apparently threatening behavior. Are the dive instructors not including a section on marine creatures in their courses? Are the dive boats not briefing appropriate behavior? After all, it is in their best interest if the whale shark or other marine creature hangs around for a while.

I was in Bali recently diving with the Mola Mola. http://www.peterwalker.com/peterwalker.com/MolaMola.html The only time the fish stayed around when I was alone with just my dive guide. When any other groups were around, someone, including some of the local guides, would scare the animal away before it settled into cleaning behavior. I heard divers grumbling that the "Mola Mola don't stay" as if this was some fault of the creature, or the dive organizer. Fortunately, with Nitrox and good control, I was able to stay down twice as long as the other divers and had quite a few experiences when my camera and I were the only ones there - and the Mola Mola would stay around up to 10 minutes. Did the other divers not realize that their own behavior was ruining their own experience? They'd paid a lot of money to get there. Why wouldn't they try to maximize the experience?

Should the dive guides do more to control the divers? Should the organizers have tighter rules? Do we need "roped off areas" which divers are not allowed to enter, like in wildlife reserves? Do we need regulation and policing? Or, as a community, are we smart enough to solve this issue ourselves?

Regards

Peter

Regards

Peter