Diving with Thresher Sharks 0
Sharks may have a bad reputation to most humans, but that only goes for the most aggressive great whites. But for other species, they are gentle creatures, which may look savage-like but are as famous as the friendlier dolphins. There is an island in the Northern Tip of Cebu that is well known not only for its beautiful sandy white beaches, but for sightings of Thresher Sharks too. Yearly, hordes of tourists visit the island of Malapascua just to witness the sharks and study them for biological purposes, just in luck that Malapascua also has good resorts for a classy accommodation.
My cousin his name is Clint is taking up Bachelor of Arts in Biology – Major in Marine Biology. So, in his major class, they were assigned a short thesis paper about marine ecosystems. He decided to bring me along, and a few of his classmates to go there and help out. I am also a Biology student but majoring in Zoology.
Reaching the island from our city of Iligan will take 30 minutes of aerial travel from the nearby city of Cagayan de Oro to Cebu-Mactan international airport, a 5-6-hour drive to the Municipality of Maya in northern Cebu and a 30-45-minute boat ride from Maya to the island. The island is so beautiful, and it has regions too, where locals thrive in. Seeing the waters and the seabed beneath as we drifted closer to the sugar white shores, I said to Clint that choosing this island for their study is a good choice. It was already late in the afternoon when we arrived there, so after checking in, we had our dinner, prepared the necessary equipment for the snorkeling activity tomorrow and took some rest, hoping to wake up early to avoid the scorching hot sun by noon.
The next day, we were so fortunate that the skies were cloudy, and the sun didn’t show up that much. We snorkeled, and were able to capture harmless jellyfishes, sea cucumbers and some saltwater snails as the specimen for marine invertebrates. We were all set that morning at as we walked towards the resort, we saw some children about 12 years old bring a big bucket full of sea urchins. These urchins are edible, and the children are intending to sell it. I just wanted to try them, so I bought a couple, and they sliced it for us. It had a unique taste.
In the afternoon that day, we were bound for scuba diving to witness what Malapascua has always been proud of, the Thresher Sharks. These sharks are resting on the deeper trenches of Malapascua and surfaces to find food. About 10 minutes of swimming on the ocean floor, we were lucky to spot one. I was able to witness a real shark for the first time. It was such a wonderful creature to see, it had a long caudal fin, it seemed like it was as long as it’s body. We took some time to watch it swim around looking for some meal and swam away to open waters. We resurfaced with all the delight of talking about the wonderful experience.
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