Do Whale Sharks Fly? Location: Belize City, Belize Day 2 by Wayne & Karen Brown

The sun was pouring into our window this morning to wake us up for our first full day in Belize. Right after breakfast we got a taxi to the small airport here in Belize City. This is not the airport we flew into yesterday. This tiny airport, on the edge of the Caribbean Sea, is only big enough for small propeller airplanes, not for big jets. Vivienne Acosta, with the Belize Tourism Board, has scheduled us to search for whale sharks by airplane today. If the whale sharks are feeding near the surface of the sea it should be easy to spot them from the air since they can can grow a lot larger than the small, single engine airplane that we will be flying in.

After taking-off from Belize City we fly out to sea and down along the Belize Barrier Reef. This is the largest coral reef in the Northern Hemisphere. Flying high above the reef we can see how huge it really is. It is like a gigantic underwater wall. It streches all along the coast of Belize, as far as we can see to the north and the south. In places where the reef sticks out of the water small islands, called cayes, have formed. Some of these tiny cayes have small resorts where you can stay right on the reef!

You could have a fun visit to the reef, but most of the animals live here for their whole lives. The coral reef is home for lots of animals and different kinds of animals. It is like a huge underwater city. Animals find food here and use the reef for shelter. In a coral reef this large we would expect hundreds of thousands of fish and other sea creatures living here.

While you and your family could visit the reef for fun, whale sharks visit the reef for food. Unlike most the animals that live on the reef year-round whale sharks are only seasonal visitors when there is plenty of food they like to eat. It's like a whale shark food festival!

After over one-hour of flying we are above Gladden Spit. This is the best place to find whale sharks along the Belize Barrier Reef. We see some boats anchored in deep water away from the reef. They must be there to see the whale sharks! In some areas of the world whale sharks feed in shallow water, so they are easily seen from the air. Unfortunately, the whale sharks here seem be feeding in deep water so we can't see them at all!. It's a good thing we are planning to look for them underwater, because we can't see them from the air!

We had a great view of the area where the whale sharks are feeding, so we ask our pilot to return to Belize City. Now we are really excited about scuba diving at Gladden Spit. There must be whale sharks feeding here and we want to see them up close and share that with you!

After landing back in Belize City, we grab a quick lunch of stew pork, rice and beans, with fried plantain on the side. We pick up our SUV expedition vehicle and start the long, four-hour drive from Belize City to Placencia.

Join us tomorrow and check out our base camp in Placencia from where we will be taking boats out to dive with whale sharks at Gladden Spit!

Best fishes,
Wayne & Karen Brown

Belize City is on the edge of the Caribbean Sea.

The Belize Barrier Reef is the longest coral reef in the northern hemisphere. It is a gigantic living thing!

Along the reef are small islands, called cayes. Some cayes have cute, little resorts on them.

Whale shark central -- Gladden Spit!

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