What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than on a Richelieu Rock 2 day dive safari diving & snorkeling with whale sharks?

We just had the most amazing time ever! We were thoroughly spoilt on day 1 with whale shark sightings from the moment we entered the water on our 1st dive. The sightings continued regularly through both dives including descents & ascents. 

We also spent our surface interval snorkeling with a shale shark who was intent on swimming close to the surface around our dive boat. What a treat!

The marine life on our 2 dives at Surin Islands was also fantastic, including a total of 11 rays, juvenile hawksbill turtle, green turtle, black tip reef shark, octopus & napolean wrasse.

We were blessed again on our final 2 dives at Richelieu Rock on day 2 with yet more whale shark sightings. Logging our dives at the end of the trip was easy - Richelieu Rock - WHALE SHARKS ... and again .... and again!!

This trip was particularly special for our youngest divers on board ... 10 & 12 year old brothers who live in China, the younger of which completed his Junior Open Water training on the trip. Bet there won't be many other kids in their classes who spent Chinese New Year diving & snorkeling with Whale Sharks! 

Photos were taken of all whale sharks seen and will be submitted to Ecocean & Shark Trust for identification purposes. By contributing to these organisations' global research, we can help learn more about whale shark migration patterns. It was noted that all whale sharks seen were 3m long which is considered juvenile! Yes, 3m is small for a whale shark!! It is quite common for us to see juveniles at Richelieu Rock which may indicate that whale sharks have a lifecycle migratory pattern whereby they are migrating from a nursery ground elsewhere in the Andaman Sea or Indian Ocean and travelling on to other feeding grounds, such as Surin National Park in the North Andaman Sea or Lanta National Park in the South Andaman Sea. How far they may travel in their lifetime, no one knows, but we hope that the data & photos from our sightings on this trip will help fill in one more bit of the puzzle. 

Let's hope the Year of the Sheep continues to be a very lucky one for whale shark sightings!