Swimming with Whale Sharks in Mozambique
An Adventure A Week
I was traveling around Southern Africa when I ended up in the small beach town of Tofo in Mozambique. It was here that I met Dr. Simon Pierce, or Dr. Simon as I call him, a marine biologist dedicating his life to saving a single species: whale sharks.
Dr. Simon runs a research center called the Marine Megafauna Foundation, which seeks to identify and solve the problems that whale sharks face throughout the world: namely, possible annihilation.
See, we humans are killing our megafauna; the term used for large marine life such as sharks, rays, marine mammals, and turtles. Not only do megafauna live a long time—on average 70 years—but they also have low reproductive rates. Consequently, their populations are usually the first to be squeezed to the breaking point by human pressures and many are in danger of extinction.
I met Dr. Simon while attending a lecture he gave on whale sharks in the back room of a bar. During this very informative presentation, I learned that whale sharks are the world’s largest fish. They can grow to more than 40 feet / 12 m in length and weigh more than 45,000 lbs / 20,000 kg.
Whale sharks are also the deepest diving fish, capable of plunging nearly a mile (over 1.5 km) to the bottom of the ocean. As a species, they originated more than 60 million years ago. Yet despite knowing a thing or two about survival, their future is under threat.
Dr. Simon shared his work on researching and protecting the large populations of marine megafauna found along the Mozambican coastline. This stretch of sandy beaches is home to 18% of the world’s known whale shark population.
After the presentation, I introduced myself to Dr. Simon as a professional fundraiser and potential volunteer. I happened to be staying at the lodge where the research center was based, so we made a quick plan for me to drop by the next afternoon.
We met several times that week to discuss fundraising strategies. A benefit of volunteering at the research center was hanging out with the other research center volunteers: Peter, Helen, Katie, and Dan. This was a fun group of people! And it happened to be Katie’s 24th birthday, which made that week a full-on good time.
I had stumbled upon the folks of Marine Megafauna by sheer chance. I was staying in Tofo, about a 10-hour mini-bus ride north of Mozambique’s capital Maputo. I had envisioned lounging on the beach for a few days, then heading further north to the beach scene at Vilanculos. But I liked Tofo and got a little stuck.
It was my birthday that week, too, albeit I was turning 44 rather than 24. Each year, as a birthday present to myself, I learn something new.
It’s a way for me to push my boundaries and try things I find intimidating. In previous years, I went skydiving and earned my scuba diving certification. I took West African dance classes and learned to ride a horse. That year, I wanted to learn how to surf.
While I grew up in California and Hawaii and knew plenty of surfers, I still didn’t know how to surf. So the morning of my birthday, I hired a surf instructor named Clayton.
As Clayton was giving me some basic instructions, he spotted a juvenile humpback whale breaching in the waters right offshore. There we stood, Clayton and I, with a surfboard between us, watching this incredible whale leap again and again into the air. What a great birthday gift!
I turned out to be a mediocre surfer, but I had a fabulous time. I got my first taste of how much fun surfing could be—especially if you manage to stand up. As the morning progressed and I got tired, my performance got steadily worse. So after a few hours, I returned Clayton’s rash guard and headed back to my beach hut.
My birthday abode was a reed hut with a sand floor and palm leaves covering a tin roof. Mosquito netting kept the mozzies out at night, but this didn’t help with the fleas that were in the bedding. That morning I woke up with 17 flea bites on the left side of my face. It was not an attractive look.
Since it was my birthday week, I felt that I deserved clear skin, so I took myself off to grander digs down the beach—and this is where I found the folks at Marine Megafauna. While I was there, I swam with the whale sharks 3 times. With each occasion, I was a little less terrified.
As filter fish, whale sharks mostly eat plankton. Their mouths are nearly 5 feet / 1.5 m wide and contain 300 rows of tiny teeth. The first time you see this wide toothy grin it’s a bit disconcerting—especially when the enormous whale shark is swimming directly toward you. Rationally you know they don’t eat people, and yet, sometimes a mistake is made. I took this opportunity to test a long-held theory. It’s true—no one can hear you scream underwater.
My first sighting of this fire-engine-sized fish coming toward me sent me swimming back to the boat. But the next time, after an initial sprint in the opposite direction, I managed to regain my composure and circle back to the whale shark, tailing him from behind. It was a very cool experience to be swimming in the ocean with one of its largest creatures.
I liked the experience so much that I decided to “adopt” a whale shark of my own and let my blog followers pick the name. The winner was Kubwa Ya Moyo, which means “Big Heart” in Swahili.
Kubwa Ya Moyo is an 18-foot / 6 m female whale shark. To identify her, researchers take a picture underwater using two laser beams projected onto her skin, just behind the gills. The laser points provide a set marker in which to measure the immense size of the fish.
Another way to identify her is through a unique pattern of dots that is found on each whale shark. This freckling is as individual as a fingerprint. Kubwa Ya Moyo, with her own unique set of spots, is registered as MZ-620 in the Global Whale Shark Database, a worldwide photo-identification library that catalogs each known whale shark.
Each time a whale shark is sighted, identification is made via the catalog with the time, place, and depth of the sighting recorded. The library is maintained by marine biologists worldwide, providing insight into whale shark habitats, behaviors, and migration patterns.
As a foster parent, I’m notified whenever Kubwa Ya Moyo is sighted. I hope that one day I’ll run into her while scuba diving in Thailand’s Similan Islands. Or in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka. Or perhaps the Indonesian dive mecca of Sipadan.
With an estimated 3,500 whale sharks in existence, this is a small hope. My big hope is that the Marine Megafauna Foundation will continue to make great strides in the global conservation of this threatened species. 🦋
Have you learned a new hobby this year? Why did you choose it? How did it enrich your life?
⭐ An Adventure A Week is a serial based on my autobiography “Adventures Of A Nomad: 30 Inspirational Stories.” You can read the essays in order (or not). Can’t wait for the next installment? Get the book.
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Christened “Wander Woman” by National Geographic, Erin Michelson is a professional speaker and author of the Nomad Life™ series of travel books and guides, including the #1-ranked “Explore the World with Nomads.”
I love this! I met a marine biologist in Cape Verde and learnt a lot about baby sharks but swimming with whale sharks sounds amazing! I am a terrible swimmer but took surfing lessons in Portugal and Mexico and standing on a board on top of a wave was one of my proudest moments even though it was only for half a second 😎😄. I can't wait to do it again.