DIVE PACIFIC 178 Sept-Nov 2021
Featuring Whale Shark at the door! (?), the threats from WWII wrecks in the Pacific, climate change impacts on kelp forests and coral reefs, new columns, superb u/w/photos and more
Featuring Whale Shark at the door! (?), the threats from WWII wrecks in the Pacific, climate change impacts on kelp forests and coral reefs, new columns, superb u/w/photos and more
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Whispering<br />
Whale Sharks<br />
Here’s an unlikely story!<br />
Ex-pat kiwi Winston Cowie tells how two Whale Sharks<br />
showed up at his front door, literally, in a waterfront canal<br />
in Abu Dhabi, right next to the massive Aldar building.<br />
2020. What a year! The year the corona<br />
pandemic changed the world.<br />
In Abu Dhabi most residents and citizens<br />
stayed home for the summer, unusual in<br />
normal times given it can be up to 50 degrees<br />
C at times. People stayed in-doors and kept to<br />
themselves, their families, their bubbles.<br />
The weather soon changed. People began to<br />
venture outdoors, wearing masks, keeping a<br />
social distance. After such a long period with<br />
limited wider interaction, they seemed a little<br />
uncertain, cautious when interacting with<br />
others.<br />
Then, in the Al Raha community of Abu Dhabi,<br />
something wonderful happened. Our community<br />
was visited by the biggest fish in the sea,<br />
Whale Sharks. Not one, but two.<br />
Right on the inside of the Abu Dhabi archipelago,<br />
in the canal between Al Zeina and the<br />
iconic Aldar building, 200m from where I live,<br />
two whale sharks appeared as if by magic.<br />
This is rare indeed.<br />
Facebook pages lit up. The community flocked<br />
to the side of the canal to get a glimpse of these<br />
magnificent creatures with their characteristic<br />
brownish red and starry white spots.<br />
Whale sharks (Rhincodon<br />
Typus) are the largest of<br />
any fish. They are endangered,<br />
and while no robust population<br />
estimates are known, a best guess<br />
is 7,000 left in the wild. They can<br />
live 150 years, a gentle giant,<br />
filter feeding mostly on plankton,<br />
averaging at maturity around a<br />
whopping 8-9 metres long.<br />
And here in Abu Dhabi we had<br />
two! A juvenile male about 4<br />
metres estimated to be around<br />
10-15 years old, and a larger<br />
mature 6-7m male. Both followed<br />
the same route, swimming in a<br />
wide circle between two bridges –<br />
Al Zeina and Amwaj. They would<br />
swim close to the side of the<br />
canal, up one side, then when<br />
they reached the bridge, turn<br />
and head back down the other<br />
side until they reached the other<br />
bridge, again and again.<br />
Recognition?<br />
Imagine, you spend your whole<br />
life dreaming of an encounter<br />
with this endangered species,<br />
the largest fish in the sea, an<br />
16 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific
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