In search of the gentle sea giant
The Standard
Published on 06/03/2011
BY PHILIP MWAKIO
A team of elite underwater photographers, who are also divers donning wet suits, jump into the clear blue waters off Kinondo beach, South Coast in Kwale.
These are not tourists out to sample the underwater fantasies along the pristine Kenyan Coast. They are on a mission to conserve the largest fish in the ocean — the whale shark.
Their work involves tagging the large, spotted fish with satellite tags for future monitoring.
Eighteen-year-old Sarina Singh Kaira is the youngest of the divers, while the oldest and most experienced of the pack is the shark specialist and marine location scout Volker Bassen.
The whale shark. [Photo/ OMONDI ONYANGO/STANDARD]
They are joined by a group of two underwater videographers Andy Voeltz and Matthias Harendt from Berlin, Germany.
Also in the dive team is Katrin Ender, an award-winning filmmaker on a cruise into the deep waters.
Bassen, who is founder member of the East African Whale Shark Trust says over time, whale shark sightings along the Kenyan Coast have been sporadic, so tourists cannot be taken to see them.
AERIAL CONTRAPTION
"Rumours that previous tagging exercises could have scared them to swim further away from the Kenyan coastline do not hold water. We only tag the whale sharks we are able to locate, usually five per cent of the herd. Where is the remaining 95 per cent?" Bassen poses.
Veteran airman Mark Hadley and spotter Dino Mathews take to the skies in a microlight aircraft which resembles a flying motorbike on a parachute.
The aerial contraption issues a high-pitched sound as it takes off from the sandy beach.
The crew on the small drone plane fly at between 300-600 feet above sea level and when they spot the whale shark they communicate with the crew on boat.
The divers plunge into the water when they spot the fish, a docile species despite its size, and using a sling-type of spear-gun attach the satellite tags onto the shark’s skin.
The tags come with chips that are programmed to transmit data via satellite and the location of the fish.
Spotting is not east on this particular day, despite the sea being calmer and clear.
The ocean waves pound heavily on the boat’s hull. After scouring the waters for more than two hours, Hadley radios Bassen to give direction to the spot where whale shark has been sighted. It’s near Chale Island.
The boat skipper Mohamed Bofula increases speed as we splash towards the spot where the fish was spotted swimming.
Videographers and Bassen jump into the waters and swim close to the whale shark.
Bassen uses the spear-gun to dart the side of the fish with a tag.
"It was amazing swimming close by to this giant fish ,’’ Khaira says afterwards.
For Voeltz, the long wait is finally over. "I got very good shots. The long wait was worth it," smiles. For the next one month, Bassen and his team will be scouring the waters of the South Coast beaches to look for untagged whale sharks and repeat the performance.
Today, they are lucky to have tagged two whale sharks which were adopted by SX Scuba and given the names Obama and Mandela.
