Whale Shark Expedition Trip Report 2024 - ( Trip # 2 )

Isla Mujeres, Mexico
July 14 - 19, 2024

 July 15, 2024 - Day One - Beautiful weather greeted us today, but once we left the lee of the island, it got a little rolly.

We took two boats today. We have a bigger group this week. —Captain Ramy took Mari in his boat, and Captain Gabby and Roberto took my group in The Pelagic. The Prizza wasn't ready, it had an electrical issue on the final day of last week's trip.

It should be ready tomorrow.

The whale sharks were close today, only about 17 miles offshore, which is really close. When we arrived, there were only a couple of boats left. Everyone else had gone. I love this time.

When we arrived, there was something like four sharks in the area. Not a lot, but they were moving slowly. Two of them were actively feeding, occasionally stopping to coke bottle. That is the best.

There was a lot of food in the water, but the visibility was amazing, and the light was perfect. I was thrilled with the shots I was getting. They looked good in the viewfinder. I hope they come out well whern I look at them later. During the swim, I looked down to see a handful of spotted dolphins cruise through. It was a big surprise, becuase it is rare to have dolphins come in close, especially around the sharks.

They made several passes, a few right next to our coke bottling shark. This is the first time I've encountered this on these trips. It is always awesome to have something special happen for our guests, and on the first day of the trip.

The dolphins made several passes and then finally disappeared. Needless to say, I was on fire.

We spent the rest of the day with the two sharks as they gorged themselves on fish eggs. Both of them coke bottled a lot today.

It was one hell of a day!

The trip is just beginning. Can’t wait for tomorrow.

July 16, 2024 - Day Two. We woke up to beautiful conditions. The weather was perfect, the ocean flat calm. It was stunning.

Thankfully, we got the Prizza back. The Pelagic is nice, but the Prizza is the boat we've been using for the last ten years here.

It was nice to have her back.

When we got out there, there were only about ten other boats around, and as the minutes passed, it dwindled down to just our two boats.

There were a handful of sharks around, but they were scattered far and just below the surface, making it a bit challenging to find them. We did have a few sharks coke bottling today, but not very many, so our time in the water with the sharks was brief.

The sharks were feeding, but they were moving fast, so our interactions with them were short and sweet.

The highlight of the day for me was seeing Rooster! Rooster is a shark I've been seeing for at least 15 years. She is a big, beautiful shark with a very distinct dorsal fin. It was chopped up by the props of a boat and healed in a way that makes it look like a rooster's comb.

I love seeing this shark again, knowing she is still visiting this area, and is healthy and beautiful and doing well.

It was a great way to finish up a very fun day.

Two more days left!

July 17, 2024 - Day Three - Perfect conditions today with a bit of wind causing some swell.

We arrived with about ten other boats around, but by 11:30, they were all gone.

We encountered five or six different sharks today. One of them was huge and coke bottling with just us in the water, which was nice. We had a long encounter with her until she finally swam off.

She stopped one more time and then no more. The rest of the sharks were ram feeding and swimming fast.

Mari’s boat went to another area with sharks feeding, and had a bunch of sharks coke bottling around them. They had somewhere between 15 to 20 sharks swimming around them. Super happy for all of our guests today.

We didn’t follow them because they had travelled a few miles further up then we did.

We hung out with our sharks for a couple of hours, and by 1 PM, everyone had enough. Their souls filled, so we are now headed back to the island. It was a nice day.

Tomorrow, we're going to the Contoy area to look for manta rays and turtles. Our group had three great days with the whale sharks, so we're going to try and show them something different.

Can’t wait to see what the day bring!

July 18, 2024. Day 4. Our Final Day at Sea!
A beautiful day at sea. What makes this area so special and amazing is the great weather and calm seas during the summer. Winter can be much tougher, but summers in the Caribbean are beautiful.

When we arrived at the whale shark spot, there were only two boats and about 15-plus sharks. Remi called us over to where he was. It was fewer sharks, but the food was thick, and we right away got in with a feeding shark.

We stayed with the sharks for a couple of hours. Now we're headed towards Contoy to try and find mantas to swim with. If we find them, it will be a great way to end the trip.

We searched for the manta rays but didn't find any. We did see one breach, and when we got close to the area where it jumped, it passed under our boat and disappeared. So we didn't get skunked—we saw one, but it did not want to play.

We searched for an hour or so, but nada… so, we are heading in.

Sadly it seems, we are leaving Isla Mujeres just as things are getting good. Every day more and more whale sharks were showing up. It looks like next week will be thick with sharks.

But despite missing out on next week, our week of whale sharks was really, really good. We had beautiful weather all week, saw a lot of animals, had a great group of enthusiastic people, and had amazing opportunities to swim with these beautiful gentle giants.

Thank you, Isla Mujeres, you treated us so well.

Until next year!