At last we arrived in the town of Oslob, Cebu after driving about 2 hours . Google map suggested that the drive is less than an hour but we practically moved like a snail so we can enjoy the view, but we ensured we get to Oslob before sunset.
This is the town famous for the whalesharks sightings in the Southern Cebu. It made headlines a couple of years ago when this sleepy town were flocked with tourists to see the whalesharks in Barangay Tanawan, Oslob.
Oslob used to be a fishing village, the town is abundant of small sardine fishes during a particular season each year however, whale sharks would take a portion of it and leave the fishermen with less catch. So the fishermen started to assign a couple of them to feed the whalesharks with krill while the rest would catch some sardines and they would divide their catch at the end of the day. This tactic had been effective for them until one day a juvenile whale shark had followed one of the fisherman wooden boat to shore, probably thinking that the boat was the source of food.
The residents saw this gigantic fish on shallow water, it became a sensation, the media came and so as the tourist. From then the locals in the town begun feeding the creatures with krill and the whale sharks have been in the area every morning to feast on the easy food. Sometimes as many as 20 can be seen in the area in a day and everyday there is always a sighting of this gigantic fish.
Although it is against our principle to feed the whale sharks since we believe that they should be left on their own to hunt for their food in their natural habitat but it is always amazing to see these giants and even more amazing swimming with them. So even if we been here before, it never grows old.
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