Whale Shark Feeding

A close up encounter with the gentle giants of Cenderwasih Bay

By Paul Cowell

This was a trip I had been looking forward to for many months — A chance to witness the great whale sharks of Cenderawasih Bay in West Papua, Indonesia feeding from the Indonesian fishermen’s Bagan (fishing platforms). To get there took me 3 flights (Singapore to Jakarta to Makassar to Manokwari) and a 24 hour sail on the wonderful MSY Seahorse, but it was all worth it.

The fishermen of Cenderwasih Bay drop large nets to the sea floor overnight. The following day, they haul up their ikan puri (a small anchovy like fish) and use the small fish to catch larger Tuna. The canny whale sharks have worked out that they can get a protein rich feed by sucking the ikan puri through the nets of the fishermen.

Completely unaware of your presence you are able to get up close to these enormous, yet graceful creatures. I was amazed dive after dive to be surrounded by many (up to 15) whale sharks.

In this particular shot I wanted to capture the relationship that exists between the fishermen and the creature. Over/under or split shots are not easy, they require a flat calm sea and the ability to expose correctly for both bright daylight and underwater darkness. I was elated to see that i had captured the moment just as I had imagined. An amazing expedition, and one I hope to return to before the sharks are fished into extinction.

View more photos of Paul Cowell’s diving trips at: https://lensy.com/portfolio/travelling-over-and-under-water/