Underwater Jumbo Jet
My unforgettable first experience with a whale shark.
Divers seem to fall into five categories when it comes to favorite things to see underwater:
Critters: turtles, octopus, sea snakes, eels, fish
Pelagics: sharks, whales, and more
Corals: plus the weirdly cool but slow stuff that lives among it
Wrecks: intentional, accidental, or wartime
Fossils: freshwater springs, caves, shorelines
(Some of the above is a hair squishy technically, but this is how it’s filed in my brain so we’re just gonna roll with it.)
I am a critters-and-corals kinda girl.
A ton of divers are shark paparazzi, and I’m sort of ‘eh’ about them by comparison. Fun to see, not afraid, just not my favorite jam.
I make an exception for whale sharks.
Oh, do I ever.
Which, to be clear, are whale-sized sharks. Not whales.
One might be forgiven for the confusion. Whale sharks have a plankton filter that would put a 1950s Cadillac grille to shame, and whales are more often plankton eaters than sharks. But whale sharks do not rise to the surface to breathe air. They have gills.
Because they’re sharks.
Clear? K, onward ho.
The northern islands of the Galápagos are known for schooling hammerheads. When we’re dropped on a wall dive, we typically descend into cold water, a volcanic wall dropping to nowhere, and grab a rock.
Word to the wise: take care where one grabs to rest. Scorpionfish and eels are everywhere, many of them hiding in places that strongly encourage good decision-making.
We perch on the wall for awhile, sip air, and watch the promenade of hammers cruise by.
On one dive, the hammers were apparently off somewhere else, maybe at a poker game with the sea lions, and we were just sort of floating around near the wall checking out the fish. There’s virtually no coral in the Galápagos, at least not compared to most of the other saltwater places I’ve dived.
Suddenly, I heard a summoning bell. The tinkly kind one hears if one has a bedridden aunt who needs another whiskey, dammit.
My head whipped around, and I saw the dive master pointing into the abyss. Same depth as us. Not up, not down.
I squinted, trying to make out what he saw.
Visibility in the Galápagos is not the best. The islands are famous for a crazy amount of life precisely because they sit at the confluence of three major Pacific currents, and all that churn makes for less visibility than calm, clear seas.
At first, all I saw was a ginormous dark shape in the distance.
Then I registered what it was.
I squealed through my regulator.
Whale shark.
There’s nothing like your first one. And this was a full-size adult, best described as the size of a city bus.
So as I mentioned, we were at the same altitude, er, depth. I slowly kicked forward a bit to see it better, then realized I’d better stop and just hover.
He, or she, was doing a gentle bank, turning and turning and turning until it ended up headed directly for me.
There was a frozen moment of: oh crap, what do I do now?
I was absolutely facing down a 767 in my little C150.
Guess who’s going to win that showdown?
I watched its grille open to feed.
I gently finned backward just a bit and judged the bank angle perfectly. It passed incredibly close, yet far enough away that a sudden swipe of its tail wouldn’t take me out.
I’ve seen manatees haul ass when spooked. Surely a wham from that whale shark tail would’ve been the end of me.
(Do whale sharks even spook? They’re pretty much mountains. I’m not entirely sure mountains feel the need to hurry.)
It was magnificent. Awe-inspiring. Magical. A moment I knew I would never forget.
And then, about five minutes later, I got my wish again.
A juvenile, so only maybe 20 to 22 feet long, appeared and rose to play with our two zodiacs at the surface.
This is the only time I have completely lost my head underwater. Although my bubbles outpaced me (yay!) I prefer a more thoughtful ascent. (No harm done, even to my hapless dive buddy you’ll see on the right side of the video who won the race to the surface, over his bubbles. Which, for you non-divers, is very very no bueno.)
Note to self: do not forget your underwater rules, no matter how cool the critter.
Whale sharks.
They don’t just flutter my heart. They hijack it.
🩵
P.S. my photos and videos are not professional grade, but they are mine.
Photos carry watermarks, but I pretty much can’t be arsed to deal with getting the videos watermarked. 🤓
Rest assured they too are ©2026 Pearl Arden unless otherwise credited. Thank you.
More Pearl Arden stories from the dive deck:
Underwater Puppies 08MAR26
Underwater Jumbo Jet 31MAR26
Dither is a Fun Word 09APR26
Well, That Didn’t Go As Planned 23APR26
The Wars Beneath Subic Bay 07MAY26
Shark Hats and Siberians 07JUN26
Great article and pictures! Helped me explore a part of the world I know nothing about except for an occasional swim or ride in a boat. Fascinating!
I swear I can hear your heartbeat!!