Fish Tales - A Close Encounter In Anilao

All four of us had taken this trip numerous times, but none of us had ever come

back bewildered, amazed and shocked. Cruising by a small wall my dive buddy

Monica, pokes my shoulder, persistently. I looked over and through her facemask,

her eyes were wide open, looking past me in a silent, wow! With some garbled

words coming out of her regulator, she clenched my arm. Twisting around I see my

first clue: spots. Widening my vision my heart starts to thump, then pound. I

suddenly realized the animal took up all my vision.

We were beside Sombrero Island in Anilao, Batangas. Anilao has perhaps the best

diving in Luzon. The dive spots in Anilao are in close proximity to one another,

which makes it easy to travel around by boat. Dives usually consist of coral

gardens, sandy patches and thousands of small inhabitants. Polyps, blennys,

mantis shrimps and occasionally cuttlefish are some of the more elusive marine life

commonly found here.

Anilao is ideal for observing sea creatures and perfect for macro photography.

That is what our friend Gutsy was doing at Sombrero that day. The photographer

of the group was leading the pack to the NW side of the island where it becomes

shallower. Monica, Juli and I were trailing behind, a little disappointed because we

were cold and the visibility was not as good as the weekend before.

All our problems were about to vanish. Ten minutes into the dive at 60 feet, in 78

degrees of water. We were about to have a visitor...

Gutsy had taken position 50 feet ahead of us. Totally consumed in taking a macro

shot of an anemone shrimp, little did he know what was looming behind him. (Such

is the life of a macro photographer). Anyway, the whale shark passed him and met

eyes with Monica's, head on. That's what remains so vivid in her mind, a very big

face. So excited she wanted to tell everyone, first myself as I was right next to

her and then Juli, who was 20 feet in front. Juli turned around and both went into

pursuit, trying to keep up with a tail so big that it looked like that of a 747

airplane. We swam head to head with each other. It was hard to keep up. One

movement of his tail was four of my kicks. I scanned the length of his body, the

distinctive spots, the long shallow crevasses that ran along from his pectorals to

his tail. His black eyes were rimmed with a patch of white. Gliding through the sea,

effortless, incognito. It's hard to imagine anything which is covered in polka dots

and weighting 12 tons being stealth-like, but it was fully loaded to blend in with

the blue of the sea. Its size was incredible. I tried to guess: 50 feet? No. 25? I

couldn't think. Then I swam closer and estimated how many of my body lengths fit

along his. Six lengths, or 36 feet. It was an awesome rush, Being a plankton eating

shark he didn't pose a threat to us. it was more like we were engulfed by his

presence.

I felt sorry for him, he had nothing around him, no remoras sucking on to him, no

pilot fish so I stayed with him. Inevitably I slowed down, tired. I watched the last

couple of flicks of his tail. "Goodbye my spotted friend", I thought to myself, " hope

to see you again some day".

So there I was suspended in the murky abyss. My heart was pounding in my chest.

We surfaced ecstatic.

The ocean is full of life, but it is just spread so far apart. I wonder what it will

unveil to us next. Encounters with such creatures occur at a time and place of the

animals choosing.

We each recalled the story from our own perspectives. I couldn't stop smiling. It's

a different feeling when you set out to look in a certain location but this was an

unexpected two-minute ride that will last forever. We've been to Anilao many

times, but this we hold as the greatest tale. So if you are there and see a speed

boat with four die hard divers, Its probably us, looking for a spotted friend.

In Anilao efforts have been made in recent years to preserve the marine life. Some

sights have been established as sanctuaries. In a dive spot called Twin Rocks,

giant clams have been re-introduced. But with the lack of funds and reluctance to

co-operate by local fisherman it has been an arduous task. Buoys have also been

introduced which help tremendously until the fishermen steal them for their nets.

These banceros are not directly profiting from the diving industry and so have no

motivation to change their ways. But the reef seems to be healing itself from the

destruction caused by anchors and illegal fishing practices. Sightings of large fish

and pelagics have been infrequent, but recently hammerheads, green sea turtles,

barracuda and mantas have been reported. This shows promise and hopefully we

will be hearing of more.