Papa Shillingi

All of these pics can be clicked on to see them in their full glory.

Swahili stories tell that God blessed the whale shark by throwing a handful of shillings on his back, thereby making the spots.  The creature repays God by swimming close to the surface so that God may admire his handiwork.
This beautiful creature was photographed by Roberto as he ducked under our boat playfully.

The tails of these big boys were taller than me by at least half.  They swayed very gently as whale sharks use their whole body to move through the water. This was an adult, you can tell because his tail is moon shaped and the top and bottom are close to the same size.

This big boy's mouth was wide open, you can spy his little eye.

He sucks water in and then pulls it past his gills.  How Robert was cognizant enough to snap this I will never know. Am ever so grateful he did.

I read this morning that whale sharks capture things out of the water up to a half inch long and they have been heard to cough under water.  My third time to slip into the sea with these guys was mighty fine.  We had two, and the second one slowed way down and gave me the opportunity to swim in front of him and gaze down into the gaping maw.  As you can see, my shnorkel was full of water...

Nature displays the holy beauty of God if we can just take the time to notice.  Thanks, Roberto, for taking and sharing the pics.