A Whale of a Good Time (Maybe)

By Tim Grollimund

"As I stood on the boat with my morning coffee and watched the people pile in the boats and head out to the whale sharks, my immediate reaction was “we are in a whale shark theme park”. Pop in a roller coaster and a hot dog stand and we have an instant attraction for the entire family. An Imax theatre would be nice, too.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved swimming with the whale sharks. But when I saw what was really going on, my experience in a previous life of helping open a maritime-based educational facility with a theme-park mentality in Norfolk, Virginia migrated to the top of my mind. Move em’ in, provide the experience, move ‘em out. Bring in groups. Stock the gift shop and make sure the food is decent. That’s what is going on in Oslob. I believe it’s become more about the peso than the whale shark. I can’t blame them for developing the tourism business. But I wonder... is there a balance that can be reached?

This new attraction has spawned a great deal of controversy. In the purest sense, the don’t-alter-natural-behavior-of-animals group wants to close it down. The folks in the town want to keep it going, since it has provided additional income for the fishermen and fostered the development of a small hospitality industry in the village.

The local fishermen feed the whale sharks tiny shrimp that rise from the bottom at night. There’s an article by Steve De Neef, who lives nearby, that states they recently depleted the supply of local shrimp. Now they buy their feeder shrimp from somewhere else. I understand the concern about not interfering with the animals. In fact, one of the most popular whale sharks has been injured, and is now blind in one eye. He’s gone now."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Grollimund
• Release date: Jul 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370624430

Tim Grollimund

Tim spent nearly a decade in Key Largo, Florida. He wrote the scuba diving column for the local newspaper, The Reporter, for over three years, and also served as a Working Group member and Alternate Representative on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. His ebooks are all based on his newspaper columns. Each ebook has a collection of underwater images shot by Tim. The ebooks cover a wide range of marine life species and ocean conservation topics.

Book preview

A Whale of a Good Time (Maybe)

Tim Grollimund

Author: Tim Grollimund

Date Published: June 8, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-3706244-3-0

Publisher: Smashwords Edition

Copyright © Apex Global Solutions LLC 2017. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the prior and express written permission of the copyright holder. All inquiries via timgrollimund.com

Table of Contents

A Whale of a Good Time (maybe)

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Reporter

Whale Sharks

About The Author

Other eBooks, Prints and Keepsakes

Articles I used to write this column

Acknowledgments

To Dad, who knew I loved the sea, and always encouraged me to pursue my passion.

Introduction

When I moved to the Florida Keys in 2009, I had one objective in mind. Simply, to become highly proficient as an underwater photographer. For the previous