Location: Selah, Indonesia
After a late but fun 12-4 am watch last night, this morning started bright and early at 6 am for a snorkeling excursion with whale sharks. We woke up and got in the dinghies as the sun rose over the mountains surrounding Selah Bay. As we prepared to jump into the water in our snorkel gear, a whale shark swam directly under the boat. It was very unnerving how such a large fish could appear out of nowhere! Once we were in the water, we swam over to the boat where the sharks were congregating. It was the most magical moment when one suddenly swam up under us, and we could clearly see its star-like spots. Their skin was a stunningly rich midnight blue that looked like it would feel like velvet. Up close, their heads had intricate swirly patterns, which I had never noticed in pictures. It was such an incredible bucket list moment, and we were so lucky to see so many on our swim. They kept looping around us and feeding near the boats. They were huge in person and didnt seem scared of people at all. In fact, one of them surfaced right under and accidentally bumped into Henry! For the rest of the day, weve joked that he got to ride a whale shark! After our swim, we washed the krill out of our hair and continued our passage to Komodo.
We had our first proper introduction classes in marine biology and oceanography, which were very interesting, and Kyler made some incredible chocolate chip cookies. The sea was calm and the current was in our favor, so we made quite a bit of headway, and our watches passed quickly. We saw Rissos dolphins as well as normal ones, which was super neat. After a beautiful, bright pink sunset, we ate chicken chili with homemade rolls and real Doritos. Tonight, we will continue on our passage to Komodo and look forward to all of the diving and cool nature well see there! I cant wait to eat a cookie and ramen tonight at 3 am when the rest of watch team 2 and I are on duty. Sending lots of love to Mom, Dad, Luke, Kailin, and the rest of my family and friends, and Maia and Henry say hi to their families, too!