A Dream Comes True

Swimming With & Studying Whale Sharks

There are no words for my week in Mexico. For six days in August, I lived my 12-year old self’s dream of being a marine biologist. It was an incredible experience. I am still processing - everything we did, everything we saw, and everything I felt. There are so many emotions…and re-entry was hard. But I wanted to share a quick clip capturing some of the whale shark experience. Click on the photo below to see a quick video of the experience.

We swam with these incredible beauties every single day. We slipped in and out of the boats multiple times a trip, sometimes hanging with five or more sharks each day. Some days they were chill and let us hang out while they slurped plankton. Other days we watched them swim powerfully away or dive deep. Watching them from the boat was as magical as swimming alongside of them.

We took photos and videos galore, including the specific photos we needed for spot identification - capturing the area from their fifth gill to the front of their pectoral fin for spot mapping. When we got back to shore, we uploaded the photos and data to SharkBook adding our findings to a large database of discoveries, hoping to help us learn more about these beautiful and gentle giants.

Thank you to the entire team at the Vermillion Sea Institute for an incredible and profoundly moving week in Bahia Los Angeles, Mexico. And thank you to my fellow Stars to Sea participants for your enthusiasm, warmth, humour, support and friendship. 💙🌊💙