Last year we vow, in Arnie’s immortal words, “we’ll be back” – and nine months and one bout of Covid (me) later, we are. Our favourite WA destination has to be Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef. You can read about last year’s adventures of swimming with Manta Rays and being entertained by Humpback whales and graceful Manta Rays in my blog Good times with the mega fauna, so I won’t repeat myself. NB – it is worth reading, or re-reading.

The Ningaloo Reef is both not as readily accessible as the Great Barrier Reef and also more accessible. Ningaloo is remote: Perth, the most remote city on Earth, more or less, is 1,200kms (745 miles) south, so it’s not a day trip. Conversely, as a fringing reef it grows within a few metres of the shore – you can literally snorkel from the shore, where Great Barrier needs a boat trip. Ningaloo is one of the longest near-shore reefs in the world with over 300 species of coral, but if you expect lurid colours you will be disappointed – mostly it is grey/brown, but the size of the formations is impressive. Fish, 500 species on fact, are everywhere and all the rainbow of usual suspects abound: Parrotfish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish, Nemo lookalikes, and bigger species including reef sharks and turtles are at ease in the marine sanctuary. (underwater photos all by @elle_gillett)

Now, like many my age, I carry the trauma of the movie Jaws deep in my psyche. I can’t hear da dum………da dum……..da dum da dum da dum music without my sphincter tightening ever so slightly, so it’s big thing for me to go to the deep water. To swim with the Humpback and Whale Sharks however, you need to take a trip outside the reef to much deeper water. I’m not a natural snorkeler but I remember last year’s magic time with the Humpback whales and Manta rays. Yet, Whale sharks are less whale and more shark as they do not need to come up for air, but engage in constant motion as a shark. Like Lady MacBeth, but without the knife, I screw my courage to the sticking place and off we go.

This experience is nothing short of spectacular. We snorkel inside the reef then move out through the gap in the coral to open water. A couple of Humpbacks come along to amuse us, but we are here for bigger things. The skipper motors about 20 nautical miles (37kms) up the coast before the spotter plane calls and guides us to the appropriate area. As with the swims last year our guides divide us into two groups – no more than 10 to a group and we are a boat of 18.

The first 10 swimmers get the call to go in while the rest of us sit ready, heart pounding in my case, on the marlin board (platform at the stern of the boat). The skipper positions the boat ahead and off to the side of the Whale shark: Slide in and swim right!  the call comes and off we go. Next thing, coming straight at us is the most awe inspiring and beautiful sight, a 7-8 metre spotty beast, lazily moving through the water.

I quickly turn in the same direction the Whale Shark is moving and try to stay abreast of the pectoral fin. It is swimming slowly enough to keep up without too much effort. Eventually the guide calls for us to stop and re-group and the boat comes back to pick us up. We repeat the process and see three different Whale Sharks in all – it’s hard to stop smiling.

And harder to haul yourself out of the water for the 4th time in half and hour – note to self, work on upper body strength. I bet Lady MacBeth wouldn’t have any problems.

Everyone is buzzing after a close encounter with one of the giants of the ocean, and the day gets even better as we motor back to base. Dolphins come and perform and ride along and then, back inside the reef, two more Humpback whales arrive alongside. The skipper and crew tell us it is extremely rare to find them inside the reef, and we are in only 10 metres of water. They hang around for ages and come up close to the boat several times. All we need now is Aquaman and a few mermaids and on a day like this, anything’s possible.

And then, because nothing is ever perfect, three days later Scott tests positive for Covid. We find out two of the crew are also now in isolation. Just proves it – you catch Covid from Whale Sharks.