Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32October 2016 19 S wimming with sharks at feeding time is not as dangerous as it sounds — so long as they are whale sharks. It is an extraordinary experience to be floating within an arm’s length of a whale shark’s enormous gaping mouth — up to two metres wide — as it feeds by sucking in water and pumping it out through its gills. No matter what your brain says, it is impossible not to feel your stomach flip when the huge creature first looms into view. Wallowing rather than swimming, they move slowly and even an incompetent snorkeler like me can keep pace with them for a while. Unless, of course, they suddenly appear beneath you. I remember a graceful rise to the surface to get out of the way but friends in the canoe above say I exploded straight out of the water. Lies, all lies. Whales sharks, the world’s largest fish (true whales are actually mammals), are found in tropical waters around the world but Oslob, on the southern tip of the island of Cebu in the Philippines, is home to of one of the largest schools. Philippines 19 Tim Lindsey meets some gentle giants in the Philippines.