On November 25th the so much awaited time has finally arrived for visitors, tour operators and the community of La Paz, México. After the official surveys showed that more than 6 whale sharks were spotted in the designated area of the bay for tours, the government issued the statement for the beginin of the sightseeing and snorkeling tours.
The whale shark has become and international reference for La Paz in the recent years, not only because of how unique this species is, but also because this is one of the few spots in the world where the tour operators, government and NGO's work togeather to ensure its protection. One of the measurments taken for this, is that only one boat can interact with a whale shark at the time.
One of the rules of the whale sharks tours guidelines is that in order to open the season, we need to have 6 or more whale sharks in the area, thus only 6 boats are allowed to enter at the same time. Once more whale sharks are spotted by the official surveys, more boats can enter with a cap of 14. The maximum number of sharks vary every year but on peak season (January-February) we have had up to 50 whale sharks around!