This morning divers on Koh Tao were treated with the presence of a Whale Shark at the local dive site Chumphon Pinnacle.

Mark Slinn who is enrolled in a technical diving internship with Big Blue Tech was utilizing his SDI Solo Diver Certification this morning when he spent quality time with the whale shark. Mark experienced one on one interaction without any other divers.

This is not the first time mark has dived with whale sharks but it is his first time alone which made this a unique and special diving experience. When he got back to the boat, teh dives on board didn’t believe him and after all there were no witnesses, this remained the case until Yvonne Fries Big Blue Tech Crew arrived on the boat after completing some deep training dives and had also seen the shark.

So congratulations to the divers that saw them and .. sorry, maybe next time to the ones that didn’t.

Here is some stock footage from Ace Marine Images about Whale Sharks of Koh Tao

With its cavernous mouth wide open the 30ft long fish looms up behind Sam and appears to be about to make an easy meal out of her.

But luckily for her the creature is a harmless whale shark that prefers the taste of plankton and small fish to human flesh.

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Retired Army Spc. Scott Winkler had many scary encounters while serving in Iraq, but they were nothing compared with his recent experience at the world’s largest aquarium: swimming alongside a massive whale shark.

The fact that Winkler, 35, of Augusta, Georgia, is a paraplegic made the once-in-a-lifetime experience even more challenging.

“It’s like you’re in space,” Winkler said. “It’s like you’re an able body again. It makes you feel so free.”

Winkler was paralyzed five years ago during an accident while unloading ammunition in Tikrit, Iraq.

He is one of more than two dozen disabled veterans who have participated in the Fish Wish program at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta during the past two months.

A separate swim and dive program is open to the public, but the waiting list is nearly full until the end of the year.

The experience isn’t cheap. A half-hour dive costs $290. The veterans swam for free.

Therapeutic recreational specialist Susan Oglesby helps train safety divers at the aquarium to assist swimmers with disabilities. She explained there are very few limitations in the tank.

“The water is the great equalizer. Once you get in, you’re floating, you’re weightless, and everybody becomes equal,” Oglesby said.

Winkler was outfitted in a wet suit and snorkeling gear. He rolled his wheelchair down a long ramp to a dock floating in the 6.3 million-gallon tank of salt water.

After sliding out of the chair, he took a deep breath and pushed himself into the water.

“It is so amazing, he said. “It’s like you don’t have a disability, because you’re just floating around with everybody else. … The fish are just swimming by. It’s a total other world.”

In addition to four 23-foot-long whale sharks, Winkler gazed on a manta ray, hammerhead sharks, goliath grouper and sawfish.

He used his arms to move his body around the football-field-size tank.

Swimming next to him were two safety divers and Orlando Perez, another young veteran from Augusta.

“It’s beautiful down there!” Perez exclaimed. “It’s peaceful, and you just forget that you’re in a wheelchair. You’re one with the fish.”

Perez, 33, a retired Army private first class, suffered a spinal cord injury during basic training 13 years ago. Like Winkler, he is confined to a wheelchair.

Perez likened the swim experience to floating on air.

“I never thought being disabled would bring me to do something so amazing,” he said. “I think it’s about overcoming the disability and not letting the disability overcome you.”

Both Perez and Winkler admitted they were nervous when they first entered in the water. They settled down after being brushed by one of the passing whale sharks.

Winkler had a big grin on his face as he talked about the benefits of taking part in the program.

“Mentally, you’re actually taking a stress break from life itself,” he said. “Physically, it’s great rehabilitation. Emotionally, your spirit is lifted, and you’re able to enjoy yourself for once.”

Today the technical team embarked on a PADI/SSI Deep and NItrox combined Specialty course on the Full Day trip which saw a boat accomodate 51 people diving at Sail Rock, one of koh taos most beautiful dive sites.

The boat departed at 7 am with divers from all over the world and different activities from Advanced Open Water Course to Dive Master Course. Although the boat was quite full there was plenty of space on the 3 floor boat Banzai.

After a full hot breakfast began theory for the deep dive to 40m. This included hazards, benefits and planning of deep diving.

As teh group decended we were met by large schools of pelagic fish including Barracuda and Trevalli. With up to 30m visibility you could see quite soon the 40m point for conducting the skills. A package of potatoe chips with a red bag and a water bottle were taken along to show light and pressure changes. The group did very well with the narcosis, remarking that they did feel it but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Back on the boat there was a light snack and time for nitrox theory including partial pressure knowledge and gas analysis. As we descended we were met by a 5m whale shark at 15m. We were able to stay with the majestic beast for over 30 minutes because of the nitrox. After the whaleshark left we went through the chimney which is a vertical swim through.

Back on the boat, we enjoyed lunch, swapped on to our next mix of 36% nitrox and headed off to South West Pinnacle. Here we would conduct the surface consuption swim and simulated decompression stop and out of air drills.

Upon returning to the dive shop everyone enjoyed a cold beer and watched the sunset reflecting on the day of seeing one of the rarest marine animals in the world and completing 2 specialty courses.

Congratulations for Dyland, Paul, Andy and Fiona

Sometimes, Nature puts on a show that leaves Man awestruck.

And these spectacular displays by two denizens of the deep left all who saw them beguiled by their grace and beauty.

Divers were stunned by the sight of a 33ft albino whale shark as it glided through the waters off the coast of Darwin, an island in the Galapagos group.

Close and personal: The rare creatures are known to be very placid

Half a world away, a rare snow-white albino whale calf held spectators spellbound as it swam off western Australia - so white, in fact that one observer described it as ’sticking out like a neon lollipop’.

Both creatures are believed to be white because of a lack of pigmentation in the skin but they are expected to gradually turn to a darker colour as the years go by.

The female whale shark, believed to be the only one of its kind, was first spotted by diver and naturalist Antonio Moreano in the Galapagos islands when he took a group of tourists on a nature cruise.

Antonio knew he had to get up close and personal with the placid creature and see the whale shark in its own domain.

‘It was 4:30pm and I and six guests were at Darwin’s Island, set to make the fourth dive of the day,’ said Mr Moreano, who hails from the Puerto Ayora-Galapagos.

‘As we were on the boat checking our equipment I saw a big white thing by the surface of the water.

‘At the beginning I could not tell what it was - i had never seen anything like it before.

‘So I decided to put my mask on and put my face over into the water.

‘Right after this I explained to my guests that it looked like a white whale shark and we were going to all jump in the water and try to follow it.

Rare: The whale shark has not been seen since it was spotted last August

‘I told everyone to keep a distance and not disturb it so we all jumped in the water and followed it for five minutes.’

Mr Moreano dived to around 50 feet as he attempted to catch up with the whale shark.

‘I free dove 50ft down and is when I finally managed to get some pictures of it,’ he explained.

‘It was difficult because I did not want to frighten it away so I stayed a few metres away.

‘After a few minutes the albino disappeared and nobody has ever seen it again!

‘The whole experience from the moment I first saw it to the time it swam away lasted around 30 minutes.

‘I was very excited but it was not until we came back to the boat that I finally realised and understood how special this sighting was.

‘I realised it was a unique experience and was maybe the best gift that my beautiful islands could”ve ever given to me.

‘I kept up swimming with it and I got very close - even the eye was white.

From the size and shape of its fins, Mr Moreano identified the albino animal as a female.

‘All whale sharks found in Darwin’s Arch are big fat females, we have never seen a male or at least I haven’t,’ he said.

‘There is big mystery about our whale shakes: they all show up at Darwin and Wolf from June until November and they all go in circles around the arch dive sites.

‘Sometimes we have seen like five of them together but never seen one with mouth wide open neither males and the smallest whale shark we have seen is probably nine to 12ft.

‘But no-one has seen this albino whale shark since.’

Beautiful: A rare albino Southern Right Whale calf at West Australia’s Flinder’s Bay, is becoming a big tourist attraction

Antonio works for M/V Deep Blue is a licensed Tour operating Company and yacht agency authorised by the Ecuadorian Navy, to guide private yachts around the protected areas of the Galapagos.

‘Our job is to arrange everything for Captain, owners and crew,’ he explains.

‘Some of our clients are among the richest people in the world. We are also arranging trips for these type of yachts for Cocos Island, Malpel Island from Colombia.

‘I am now organising dive and naturalist trips to the Galapagos but trips with a special interest.

‘I know my islands quite well and want to make completely different trips as well as now organise trips for private yachts that would like to visit Galapagos Cocos, Mlapelo as well as in the future Antarctica.’

The whale shark is the largest known fish and can measure between 50 to 60ft in length and up to 10 tons in weight.

Usually a blend of blue sprinkled with white spots, the whale shark ranges all tropical waters, it is considered to be harmless to humans.

Scuba divers and underwater swimmers have clambered unmolested over its body.

The whale shark feeds chiefly on plankton, but also consumes sardines and anchovies.

Off the west coast of Australia, where whales pass on their migration between northern waters and the Southern Ocean, a two-month-old albino southern right whale, swimming with its mother, has been proving a big attraction for tourists.

Named Wilgi Manung, the Aboriginal for ‘white whale’, it is believed to be one of only ten in the world.

Senior wildlife officer Doug Coughran described Wilgi Manung, which will grow 50ft long and weigh 50 tons, as ‘ultra-white.’