The warm waters of the South China Sea off the coast of Kota Kinabalu has a surprise visitor – Downbelow welcomes first Whale Shark sighting this year!

Though it may be the typical Whale Shark season, spectators are always stunned with disbelief to behold the largest fish in the world!

This particular Whale Shark is a juvenile and swam after its krill diet quite peacefully under and around one of our Downbelow speedboats.

As soon as resident Platinum PADI Course Director Richard Swann was informed the enormous juvenile fish was in the parameters of the Tunku Abdul Rahman park (at a dive site close by to our premier PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre), he rushed to the area with a group of students from Politeknik Sandakan. Not forgetting their masks, snorkels and fins, nor Richard his underwater camera!

A sighting such as this is one of the most humbling a diver can experience and a memory not soon to forget!

Marine conservation is given so much more meaning to the students from Politeknik Sandakan who study tourism and an experience such as this puts into perspective the importance of protecting and preserving the reasons why we all want to keep visiting our seas and oceans.