famous 'stumpy' and first manta rays

we swam with a well known whale shark called 'stumpy' today - i did, not the customers - as 'stumpy' was too close to the reef and it was too dangerous to put the groups in the water. 'stumpy is by far the most famous whale shark at ningaloo reef. click here for an article on 'stumpy'. for more information about this shark click here: A-001

the other good news is that the first oceanic manta rays have arrived at ningaloo reef. every year the stay here in large numbers between may and august. it's always more than just a bonus on the whale shark tours to snorkel with manta rays while the spotter planes look for whale sharks. they are gorgeous creatures.

a fin lovin' whale shark

today we swam with two whale sharks of which one was very curious.

it was a 2.5m male shark constantly chasing the snorkellers - they didn't know where to go a were afraid of getting their fins bitten off. this shark was good fun.

nice big shark

the first big shark this year - almost 8 meters long. this whale shark has been encountered every year at ningaloo since 2002 which is great news. for more information about this shark click here: A-130