Whale Shark

Photo: Sotiris Kountouras · CC BY-NC

Whale sharks pass through the channel during the northeast monsoon season, drawn by plankton blooms that spike when the currents converge off the headland. Most sightings are of large solitary adults in the 7 to 10 metre range, cruising slowly at the surface and occasionally descending to mid-water to filter-feed. The proximity to blue whale aggregations makes dual-species encounters in a single trip genuinely possible.