I?M not particularly adventurous or athletic. I?m usually more interested in the art scene of a place than its thrills. But when my sisters voted to go to Donsol to swim with whale sharks this summer, I thought it wouldn?t be so bad. Feeling lethargic these past few months, I thought a change of scenery would do me good.

It was also good to get away from Manila and its heat for a while. I?m always excited about going to places I?ve never been to. But I must admit, I was not as excited as my traveling companions about swimming with the biggest fish on earth. I couldn?t quite see what all the fuss was about. If one wanted to see a whale shark, one need only go online and search. There are a lot of pictures out there of the butanding, as it is known locally.

But I couldn?t really say that aloud and burst everyone?s bubble, could I? Not when my sisters were so looking forward to seeing whale sharks. And not when my cousin kept jumping off her seat and shouting, ?Oh my God! Oh my God!? every time our spotter thought he saw something. But I?m getting ahead of my story. Allow me to start from the beginning.

First, some facts: Growing up to a length of 40 feet, the whale shark is easily the largest fish in the sea. It?s a shark, not a whale, which means it?s a fish and doesn?t need to surface for air. But planktons being its primary diet, it needs to get close to the sea surface where these organisms thrive by taking in sunlight. This diet also makes this colossal shark harmless to humans.

In the Philippines, whale sharks can be found in Donsol, a small town in Sorsogon. From November to May, the whale shark comes to this part of the Bicol region to breed and feed. And as part of an awareness campaign for this creature, which only starts breeding when it?s 30 years old, the World Wildlife Foundation and the Tourism department came up with an Ecotourism program that allows visitors to see and swim with the sharks up close.

My butanding experience

Our day started at 7 in the morning of April 18, 2009. Our Butanding Interaction Officer, or BIO, picked us up on the shores of our resort. There were four guys who met us: our BIO, who would be joining us in the water; a spotter, whose job it was to spot whale sharks from afar, and two men who handled the boat.

For the next hour or so, we scoured the sea for the elusive butanding. On normal days when the sea is clearer, each boat has its own area, and a group is sometimes able to see up to eight sharks in one morning. But it wasn?t a clear day when we set out. It had rained at around 2 a.m., so the river had risen and spilled some of its murky waters into the sea.

It was about 10 in the morning when things started picking up, although one can?t really tell with time moving so slowly in Donsol. Our BIO suddenly jumped up and talked Bicolano to the spotter, some urgency in his tone. He turned to us and told us to gear up and get ready. Quickly, we put on our goggles, with our snorkel hanging at the side of our eyewear. We had spotted something.

Our BIO quickly pulled on his flippers and instructed us to sit on the edge of the boat. But looking behind us, we saw another boat in pursuit. Our movements had been noticed. Our BIO yelled to the driver to go faster. Then, turning to us, he said, ?When I say jump, jump!?

Uh-oh ? I can?t swim! I can doggy-paddle in the shallow part of the swimming pool, but I didn?t think I could swim in the deep open ocean! I always imagined this whole butanding experience would be a lot slower, calmer. You know, like the pictures you see in those tourism posters. And I thought I could just let my companions jump in the water first, then I would slip down slowly and hold on to them. But with everyone?s energy level running this high, and with another boat just behind us intending to take our butanding, I wasn?t about to protest. Our BIO shouted for us to jump. Throwing caution to the wind, I threw myself off the boat.

I fell into the water with a splash. Completely submerged, I couldn?t see anything but dark blue nothingness. I rotated (not through any deliberate effort of my own) to an awkward angle and, to my relief, surfaced sputtering plankton-rich sea water. Fumbling around to see where everyone else was, I felt our BIO grab my arm. He quickly adjusted my goggles, which had gone askew after the jump. I was still a little dazed when our BIO gave us new instructions: ?When I say look down, look down.? I just nodded. ?Alright,? he said. ?Look down!? I did as I was told. If this were a movie, the background sound of the next scene would have been one low reverberating drum beat.

The posters show whale sharks in clear blue waters with rays of sunlight peeking through from the surface above. About three meters away, divers swim side by side with the gentle giants. It?s a scene from an inspirational movie. But then, when is something ever the same as a poster?

Instead of ?Free Willy,? the feeling I got was more like ?Jaws.? When I looked down, instead of seeing a spotted blue creature swimming past my line of sight, what I saw coming out of the dark murky waters was a grinning grey giant... coming straight at me!

I just floated there, too stunned to do anything as the spotted shark continued to swim in my direction. It started to descend. Its majestic white spots seemed to glow eerily in the dark waters. I knew that as it came by me, it would be just a few inches from my feet if I extended them. Our BIO grabbed my arm and we pursued the butanding from above. I saw the middle part of its body. The pattern of the spots on its body changed after the gills. The head spots were more random. The body spots were arranged in a pattern of alternating rows of dots and line. Absolutely breathtaking! I forgot to breathe. Then I realized I already had my snorkel on, and I had to make a conscious effort to breathe through the snorkel. But somehow I was so distracted that I couldn?t get my breathing in the right rhythm, and some water came in through my snorkel. My breathing ended up ragged.

But I wasn?t willing to miss any more of my already brief encounter with the butanding; I did my best to breathe slowly through the snorkel. When the creature finally dived out of sight, I surfaced coughing and sputtering and laughing. Not because anything particular was funny. But because it simply felt good seeing the giant and the only thing to do was laugh.

It was a medium-sized whale shark, measuring about 23 feet. The width of the butanding?s body was more than double of mine. And so was its mouth. Yes, width-wise, it seems very much capable of swallowing me whole. But its mouth didn?t open very wide. Like I said, it only ate plankton. So, I was quite safe.

Climbing back into the boat, I took some time to reflect on what I had seen. If I wanted excitement, I certainly got it. And for certain, no photograph could ever compare to what I felt when I was actually face to face with the whale shark. Its size, its spots, and its serene movement towards the deep all evoked so much awe. I felt small and vulnerable being in the presence of a living creature so much bigger than me. It truly was a one-of-a-kind experience. ?