Unfortunately, one of the spotters on the boat had a death in the family, so she went home for the funeral and to catch up with her family. Because it was in the middle of school holidays for western aussies, no other spotters were available. Promotion for Grace!
Spotter Responsibilities: Preparing people for the day swimming with whale sharks, fitting/helping people with snorkel gear, leading groups on a whale shark swim, making lunch, blah blah blah.
My first day spotting was on of the best days of my life. On our first morning snorkel some humpback whales swam by our group (a mama, a calf). It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I wanted them to adopt me into their little pod and have a breaching party. You are not supposed to swim with marine mammals. I'm pretty sure its illegal, but I want to do it again as soon as possible. The skipper, the videographer, the other spotter and myself tried to swim out to a few more humpies, but we were a little too slow. When we stopped swimming we looked down and saw 4 healthy sized bronze whaler sharks. They circled around us and checked us out a little bit. Needless to say we grouped together and decided to make our way back to the boat.
That same day we saw two tiger sharks, a white tip reef shark, turtles, and a whale shark. It is coming to the end of the season, so now we don't know if we'll spot a whale shark. Fortunately, for my first spotting day we got one. The weather was amazing so the ocean was flat. I could see the other spotter passing on the shark to my group; I got everybody lined up and the whale shark swam so slowly right passed everybody. Just as I thought it couldn't get better, a little green turtle swam alongside the shark. I couldn't have imagined a more ideal swim. Beginners luck.
Not every spotting experience has been so easy, sometimes they are 5-10 meters down or change direction or they're very fast. Yesterday for instance I had to practically skull drag a lady on every whale shark, manta ray swim,and snorkel. She was from Texas, scared of the ocean and not a good swimmer. I didn't leave her side all day, and she said she had an amazing time, so I'll just count it as a good workout. Another woman gave us all a very hefty tip because they came out 2 days in a row and loved it. They were awesome pre-tip. Their daughter even made us all one of those little rubber weaved bracelets. So cute.
Because the season is coming to an end, I am looking to make my way to Broome in the next week. I love little Exmouth, but it is time to move on to the next adventure. Hopefully I'll get to run into Sarah and Brad at some point. I hear they are heading west :)
Other updates:
-Broken Tooth: I think I need a crown, and I look a little like a hillbilly. Ain't no thang.
-Cut fingers: Still haven't mastered the art of using sharp knives on rocky boats
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