Select File and then Print from your browser's menu. An enormous gray shadow as big as a bus passes silently by the bow of our boat as we motor in the Indian Ocean two miles out from the coast of Western Australia.
Nervous anticipation runs through the boat's passengers, a mix of tourists and scientists.
We are about to jump overboard to swim with whatever is out there. Small whirls the helm and calls out to a crew member to keep an eye on the marine leviathan. Even veteran shark-watchers such as marine biologist Dennyse Newbound are keyed up. Hopes of seeing a whale shark have drawn all of us here to Ningaloo Reef, a marine park near the town of Exmouth. And we want to meet it up close.