NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Australia: Out of the blue

By Paul Rush
1 Aug, 2007 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Diving with Whale Sharks on the Ningaloo Reef.

Diving with Whale Sharks on the Ningaloo Reef.

KEY POINTS:

On one of those glorious, sun-filled days that Western Australia is famous for, I found myself immersed in the ultramarine splendour of the Indian Ocean.

Ningaloo Reef, the largest coastal fringing reef in the world, was living up to its reputation. Kaleidoscopic coral bommies of every conceivable shape
were bathed in sunlight and myriad tropical fish darted among the multi-coloured nudibranchs and sponges. Dazzling weed gardens waved to and fro in a sparkling fantasia of colour and life.

Our group of high-spirited snorkellers was barely a kilometre off the beach, where white silica sand merges with the vivid red of ancient cliffs. As we moved into deeper water there was no sensation of cold or danger. The ocean held us in its warm embrace.

The kindred feeling of travellers sharing an adventure was exhilarating, but tempered with the knowledge that ominous dark shadows could emerge from the depths at any time.

This part of the Coral Coast, 1200km north of Perth, Western Australia, is known for its giant manta rays and prowling tiger sharks, along with more amenable aquatic mammals such as dolphins and dugongs.

Suddenly, out of the dark veil of the deep ocean, a huge grey shape emerged with a chilling shark-like profile. My first heart-stopping sight was of a gaping, one metre wide frog-like mouth. The mouth was moving towards me on a collision course. I was momentarily stunned and unable to move. My silent scream was lost in the depths. I thought, I was about to be swallowed whole. At the last momentI was galvanised into action and finned hard to get out of its way. A long, drooping pectoral fin brushed against my chest as the gentle giant slid past.

A dark, knowing eye with a pale blue and yellow pupil, was locked on to me as it passed. In that instant I tried to sense whether that eye was expressing mere curiosity or perhaps a sense of wonder and trust as two intelligent species interacted at a primal level. I fancied there was a vestige of mutual understanding in the brief contact and still believe this to be so.

Its vast flank reminded me of a granite mountain slope, rising to a curved prominence, the dorsal fin, which had the appearance of a submarine conning tower. Then the huge vertical tail fluke came level with me and it flexed ever so gently to maintain steady forward motion.

What was most remarkable about this giant whale shark was the checkerboard pattern of white star-bursts spread over its flank. They were as bright as the Milky Way on a clear night and seemed to glisten and shimmer under the slanting shafts of sunlight.

Back on board the boat our group is more than high-spirited, we are ecstatic. Ballistic even, as we exchange high fives and cavort about, bouncing off the cabin walls with the excitement of it all. We have had a whale of a time.

We have been swimming with a whale shark, the largest fish in the ocean. It was a surreal and breathless encounter with an incredible hulk. He was definitely a shark, but given his close resemblance to the cetacean species, the whale part of his name has clearly been added to do justice to his immense size. Our new acquaintance was 6 metres long, but his cousins can measure up to 18 metres and can weigh 21 tonnes. Ningaloo Reef is recognised as having the most predictable seasonal aggregation of whale sharks in the world and is the best place to see them in the wild.

The driving force behind this annual 1000km migration from tropical waters around Christmas Island, Indonesia and Timor is, of course those old faithful primeval instincts of food and sex. In this particular case, sex comes first. Not a jaw-dropping, mind-boggling coupling of two mighty star-crossed lovers, but rather a very public and non-intimate display by the 250 different species of coral polyps that have built this magnificent reef.

Every year as the full moon rises in March and April, the minute coral polyps on Ningaloo Reef simultaneously release a vast cloud of bright pink eggs and bundles of sperm. This ethereal pink soup floats above the reef, causing all manner of aquatic predators to salivate. The smallest creatures who seek out this seminal bounty are the krill, plankton and small pelagic fish, which go berserk at the prospect of an orgasmic feast.

The largest creatures are the whale sharks that are classic baleen feeders that cruise majestically through the potent mixture, sucking in every tiny organism in their path.

The whole pink farrago is strained through the fine mesh of their gill rakers by the tonne - the greatest gourmet banquet on earth.

Remarkably, local scientists are able to identify every individual whale shark by their checkerboard star pattern.

Photos of the star patterns are analysed using Nasa software. This was developed to map star clusters in the sky as part of the Hubble space craft guidance and navigation system. The whale shark clusters are like personal fingerprints as every pattern is unique. Marine scientists are thus on first name terms with these forbidding but lovable creatures.

A vision of this gentle giant of the reef looming out of the void will always remain with me. It's a unique privilege and a stellar experience to swim with this heavenly creature - a timely reminder that our lonely planet still has the capacity to surprise and humble us.

*Paul Rush travelled as a guest of Tourism Western Australia and Qantas.

- Detours, HoS

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

Why depachikas in Japan are the best place to enjoy the foodie scene

06 Jul 02:00 AM
Travel

How to spend a Dunedin weekend with your university-aged kid 

06 Jul 01:00 AM
Travel

3 Places to craft your very own gin in New Zealand

05 Jul 07:00 PM

One pass, ten snowy adventures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

Why depachikas in Japan are the best place to enjoy the foodie scene

Why depachikas in Japan are the best place to enjoy the foodie scene

06 Jul 02:00 AM

Skip the fancy restaurants; these halls are the perfect place to dive into Japan’s food.

How to spend a Dunedin weekend with your university-aged kid 

How to spend a Dunedin weekend with your university-aged kid 

06 Jul 01:00 AM
3 Places to craft your very own gin in New Zealand

3 Places to craft your very own gin in New Zealand

05 Jul 07:00 PM
'Covered with bites': Auckland hostel issued cleansing order for bedbugs

'Covered with bites': Auckland hostel issued cleansing order for bedbugs

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP