Sabah, Malaysia: We know Kota Kinabalu features on a whale shark migratory path of sorts, and sighting them has been the cause of much hype over recent years.
Although we suspect that peak sightings take place in a 2 year cycle, 2009 was a bumper year, whilst in 2011, in spite of many reports of sightings, we never spied any ourselves.
But it seems the whale sharks keep their own schedule, because on Monday, whilst waiting for divers to surface, our boat captain saw one not far from our Gaya island dive station.
Whale sharks in Kota Kinabalu in January – are they back? We are cautiously optimistic about an exciting few month ahead.
As our island crew dives every day, they are sure to be quick to the scene should any whale sharks be spotted in the TAR Park near Kota Kinabalu.
It’s a great time to be an intern with Downbelow too, because our interns get free unlimited diving and are stationed at our Gaya island dive station during the day, right in the heart of any potential whale shark action.
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Here’s to best fishes (and whale sharks) in 2012!
Update 5 Jan 2012 – Downbelow’s Instructor Wellson and 2 guests spotted another whale shark during their morning dive.
