This was a fairly unspectacular (though undoubtedly important) job. The highlight of this process was watching Elke (the marine biologist!) turn a yellow shade of green because she had neglected to take her anti-sea sickness tablets. Striking various poses, that evoked images of some heroic warrior felled in battle, she would lie slumped on deck emitting groans and protestations that we should return to Beau Vallon beach as soon as possible. The mirth this generated was rather offset by the fact that we had to perform the duties she was unable to fulfil!

The MCSS micro-light in which Tom spent many hours as an observer looking for whale sharks.  Photo Daniel Pascoe.

  Another activity I enjoyed was as Whale shark spotter in the micro-light air craft. This is the most minimalist air craft I have, or ever will, consent to take to the air in. It was effectively a tricycle with a propeller on the back and a hang gliding wing on top. A complete circuit of Mahe would take around an hour and a half during which we would note down any whale shark sightings (and any other interesting marine activity). I can still recall the excitement of spotting our first whale shark after around 2 weeks of scouring the ocean with nothing but glare, schools of fish and a few dolphins to report.

  Things were generally fairly sedate on these trips, except the stretch between Conception and North-east point. Here we had to ascend from around 3000 to 6000 feet to avoid turbulence. However, this evasive strategy was not always successful. I can recall all too vividly Johan wrestling with the wind whilst the air craft was being thrust this way and that, shaken like a leaf in high wind. I was left sitting prostrate in the passenger seat mumbling in fear as I clutched at the frame of the air craft and pondering the tensile strength of the car seat belt that was holding me in place!

  Casting those frantic memories aside, the ultimate highlight of volunteering was the Whale Shark Tagging/Monitoring. When we were sure that there were sharks close to Beau Vallon Bay we would take a boat out to the location in which they had been spotted, while Johan, our eye in the sky, scanned the ocean for the giant filter feeders. If there were any around, he would radio the direction and distance, and we would speed off to see if we couldn’t get in the water with (and stay alongside!) the shark so that we could apply a tag and gain all the other relevent information we could about the fish.

  Sometimes they disdained any attention and would dive immediately, on other occasions they would just accelerate until we couldn’t keep up, but now and then, and especially when they were feeding, one could be literally within a few metres of them without pounding your lungs for the pleasure. A particular thrill was when we had a chance encounter with a 7 metre juvenile male on the way back to Beau Vallon bay after a tagging session. I was literally eye to eye with this fish as it rose through the water to feed, and it was moving so slowly that I didn’t really have to swim to stay alongside.

  During my stay we encountered 15 different sharks and for me the last encounter elicited no less excitement than the first. It still remained an awe-inspiring experience to be within touching distance of the largest fish in the ocean. Now if I’m feeling a bit low, all I need do to cheer myself up is to remember how it was to swim alongside one of those beautiful fish.

  Thanks so much to David, Glynis, John, Elke, Johan and everyone at the Seychelles Underwater Centre for making my 3 months volunteering such great fun!