April 17, 1995

CARL ROESSLER "DANCES WITH WHALE SHARKS"

Some of the world's friendliest whale sharks greeted the March and April 1995 cruises out of Exmouth in Western Australia. My group enjoyed over 40 dives with the gentle behemoths, some dives with these "living mother ships" lasting15-20 minutes. The sharks seemed curious about us, sometimes circling around the group to get a closer look at us. The photographic opportunities were sensational, and every day was a riot of activity during the 4-5 hours our spotter plane was aloft.

The dive cruiser, True North is a fast, powerful live-aboard for only 8-10 passengers; her crew is simply superb at placing our divers on one great shark after another. She is air-conditioned throughout, boasts a huge outdoor dining area, and offers highly varied and delicious meals.

We also managed a sublime morning dive on the Navy pier at Exmouth. This is now a bit iffy because of a long-term contract with a big mining company who won't allow dives when they have ships docked at the pier.

However, all of the groups that have managed dives there; mine enjoyed a huge frogfish, a deadly stonefish, several crocodile fish, two gorgeous wobbegong shark sand lots more.

Of all the world's diving adventures, only the great white shark provides more adrenaline than this, and every serious diver should do it!