Whale Shark and the most remote twitch

Private plane

Bill's certainly going out in style and he had a private plane waiting for us back in Broome to fly all the way down the coast to Exmouth.

 Personal pilots

As we crossed the Pilbara we flew over the tiny town of Onslow and it's salt works. And it's Blue Rock Thrush! Only the 4th Australian record which just happened to turn up a couple of weeks before we were due in the area.

Onslow

Upon landing in Exmouth I jumped in the hire car and gunned it out of town to travel the 400km to Onslow before sunset. Highway Patrol had other ideas though and promptly pulled me over. Well this trip was all about new life experiences after all! Anyway, the nice cop let me off with a warning and a few hours later we arrived in Onslow with 45 minutes before sunset. The boat ramp was located and next to it the break-wall that the bird likes to hang out on. About 10 minutes later the magnificent Blue Rock Thrush #498 hopped into view. With the light fading I fired off a couple of shots before jumping in the car and getting back to Exmouth. The return trip was a little more sedate not least because the Red Kangaroos were out.

Blue Rock Thrush

Next morning we were out on a boat off Ningaloo reef looking to swim with the Whale Sharks. A plane flying overhead spots the animals and directs the boat ahead of them at which point the punters leap into the ocean allowing the boat to then retreat so the sharks will hopefully just calmly swim past. It is absolutely jumping with whales up there at this time of year which apparently spooks the few remaining Whale Sharks and so the whole day had passed without managing to get one near the surface. We were actually heading back in when the plane spotted something and so once again we jumped into the water. This time our Whale Shark did swim past although quite deep down and so we did see one in the end. I then lifted my head out of the water just in time to see a Wilson's Storm-Petrel #499 flying overhead. Snorkel tick!

Whale Shark in the gloom

There's a turtle down there too along with who knows what!

After we got back on the boat the Whale Shark came right up to the surface so we got a pretty decent view in the end although it would have been nice to actually swim with one. I did get quite close to a couple of turtles and a Manta Ray though.

Manta Ray with a sucker fish hanging on

Next day we were back on the private plane and down to Perth to catch the flight home. Unforgettable experience. What a trip!