Now, the coronavirus pandemic means I have been locked down in Doha for almost four months. It’s a privilege we should all work together to protect. Swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef is the experience of a lifetime, and a must-do when you're visiting the region.

It is massive, graceful, powerful. SWIMMING & DIVING WITH WHALE SHARKS IN BELIZE. One of the world’s cheapest destinations to get your dive ticket, the backpacker …

Qatar’s waters host some of the largest gatherings of the planet’s biggest fish, the whale sharks. Large fins everywhere, feeding on the spawning frenzy happening in the waters right now. Being in the water with the world's biggest fish is exhilarating and serene all at the same time. We have the luxury of swimming with them for about two hours. After long and careful planning – waiting for the whale sharks to arrive, waiting for the right weather conditions and finding a boat – we embark on the two-hour trip out to sea. Swim with whale sharks Cancun, the original and extreme 2-in-1 sea safari and reef snorkeling tour has been in operation since 2007. Off the coast of Qatar – “Will they be bothered by our presence?”; “They’re so big, how are we going to feel once we’re in the water?”; “Will we be intimidated?”. We are no longer as relaxed. What a privilege it is to swim with them. Fish eggs are their delicacy. When I was a child, I wanted to be a marine biologist but somehow ended up becoming a journalist. When many people think of Qatar, they think of a small, rich desert country that is dry, hot and arid – bringing to mind the cliche of “where nothing grows”. These are just some of the questions circling in our minds before cameraman Nick Porter and I set out to film whale sharks, the largest living fish, off the coast of Qatar. Whale sharks are endangered – unsurprisingly, mostly by the actions of humans.

Whale sharks are found in other parts of Australia but Ningaloo is the only place in Australia where whale sharks are found in large numbers at predictable times and are easily accessible to snorkelers. We have the most positive experience taking guests to Mexico's Caribbean coast just north of Cancun to one of the only destinations in the world where one can snorkel alongside the amazing Whale Sharks. We are told this is due to the water being a few degrees cooler than in other nearby areas and to the large number of spawning fish. I ask him if he has seen the film Open Water and instantly regret my joke.

Our boat is the only one in these waters. So I end up alone, next to a huge whale shark – huge compared with me, at least. It’s been spotted earlier. The whale shark seems to be moving quite slowly when you observe it from above water. Nick and I jump into the water. Utila, Honduras. I have always been passionate about wildlife. They have no idea about the wealth of wildlife that there is here: the whale sharks, the dugongs, and so much more.

It’s time to join them. Suckerfish stick to it, cleaning its dotted skin. Read more https://t.co/qMLFJlg39X pic.twitter.com/CRiTefU87Y, — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 16, 2020. On our journey out, bottlenose and spinner dolphins flirt with our boat – the bottlenoses relaxed and smooth, the spinners playful and fast. This has never happened before, so a silver lining is that I have finally been able to attempt to tell the story of the diverse and rich wildlife of Qatar, including the majestic whale sharks. Here, in the waters of the Gulf, they gather in their hundreds.

We return to the boat. The more people know what beauty we have a privilege to host, the more they should want to care about protecting and conserving it. Or with a truly massive, truly stunning humpback whale . They are everywhere, and it’s mesmerising.

I work hard to keep up. Everyone is on a high. “Stick together,” Nick tells me. And it is not just one whale shark, or even a few.

A large black-tip reef shark swims with them, too. They need more protection. Swim with Whale Sharks in Exmouth, on the Ningaloo Reef Our Whale Shark Interaction Tour is from Mid-March – Early August. Al Jazeera’s @StefanieDekker got exclusive access to head out to sea and swim with these endangered animals. Experience wonder up very close and personal swimming next to the biggest shark in the world, The Whale Shark. It’s your turn; experience the sea safari of your dreams. I am in awe. We laugh, slightly nervously, but return our focus to the whale sharks around us. Swimming alongside the largest fish in the sea is one of the ultimate bucket-list experiences. It makes you feel so small, so insignificant – in awe of nature’s natural beauty, in total respect of its power. Swimming with a whale shark is the experience of a lifetime - a unique and amazing wildlife interaction that will live with you forever. Swimming with whale sharks in Exmouth is a once in a lifetime opportunity not to be missed. And we are alone. Lucky, then, that there are a few destinations around the world – from Mexico to Mozambique – where in-season sightings of whale sharks are almost guaranteed. Join the Gold Medal-winning whale shark exmouth cruise voted the Best Adventure Tour in Western Australia for a wonder-filled day cruising and diving the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef . Ningaloo Reef is Australia's largest fringing reef, and one of the largest on Earth.

Neither of us is nervous. Nick has now gotten his fins, and we swim together. I manage to get so close that I struggle to get out of the way of its large tail as it out-swims me.

The best Whale Shark Tour on Isla Holbox. Nick and I see a smaller, faster-moving fin in the water, not too far from us. But right now, I just want to be close to this incredible animal. While whale sharks are our main focus, we add other highlights, too, on Holbox Island and the Yucatan coast. He is filming and is as excited as I am – this is a first for him, too. It’s a different picture in places such as Mexico, where thousands of tourists swim with whale sharks every year. There are hundreds. Them allowing us to observe them up close, in their world. For more than 10 years, we have offered premium whale shark tours to an exigent clientele who want the ultimate swim adventure while visiting the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It's simultaneously awesome and humbling. With its mouth open, it slides through the water, effortlessly. This one is probably six or seven metres (20-23 feet) long, but they can get much bigger, up to 18 metres (59 feet). It’s such a privilege to be in its habitat.

Qatar’s waters host some of the biggest gatherings of whale sharks, the world’s largest living fish. There is so much to take in, being so close for the first time. Ningaloo Whaleshark-n-Dive’s passionate whale shark interaction tour team will show you a whale shark experience you’ll never forget.

‘What a privilege’: Swimming with endangered whale sharks in Qatar. Qatar’s birdlife thriving amid pandemic restrictions (3:38), The perils of ‘sharenting’: The parents who share too much, ‘I was chained for 11 months’: Living with depression in Liberia, Kept in chains: People with mental illness shackled in 60 nations, Fair trial concerns plague world’s largest death row in Pakistan, Azerbaijan says seven dead in overnight Armenian shelling: Live, Scientists investigate possible coronavirus mutation in Chile, ‘Enough is enough’: Nigerians demand SARS police unit scrapped, Trump holds first public event since COVID-19 diagnosis, Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Qatar’s waters host some of the biggest gatherings of whale sharks, the world’s largest living fish. I remember first pitching a story about Qatar’s whale sharks some 10 years ago. Visibility is poor, but I spot one and swim towards it, forgetting that Nick still doesn’t have fins on his feet, so he can’t really swim as fast I can. In 2014, whale sharks attracted over 110,000 tourists to Oslob, according to the Department of Tourism for Central Visayas, the islands of which Oslob is a part. I have managed to dabble here and there in environmental stories, but most of my all-time consuming travels are defined by politics, conflict and human misery. Others swim alongside it, underneath it. Finally, we see them and let out a shout of excitement. Swimming With Whale Sharks. It’s all a little overwhelming and quite emotional. In Australia Ningaloo Reef is the only place guests can join a whale shark tour to swim and snorkel with whale sharks. Not so much when you are side-by-side. Each year the whale sharks visit Ningaloo Reef in Australia. More and more of the harmless giants surface with their mouths wide open as they skim the top of the sea, filter-feeding on gallons of water cloudy with fish eggs. Gladden Spit in Belize is another of the best places to dive with whale sharks.With about 26,000 acres (10,510 ha) and 22 miles of coastline (36 km), Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes are part of a protected marine area (GSSCMR) in Belize.Being a protected area, Gladden Spit is rich in marine life such as sea turtles, coral reefs and colorful fish. Almost as big as me, the tail could give you quite a strong smack. 2. The whale shark, the gentle sea giant, gracefully skimming through the deep blue waters.

It also reminds you of how we are so talented at destroying it.

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