And they were giants indeed. Yes, after a few hiccups (to be explained later) I found myself on the expedition to Darwin Island in the north of the archipelago to tag whale sharks for the Galapagos Whale Shark Project! You can find a link to the non-profit organization on Facebook at:
This whole amazing project took place in conjunction with the Charles Darwin Research Station, the Galapagos National Park, and the Galapagos Whale Shark Project. I was extremely lucky to have found myself on this expedition, as tourist who go to the north of the archipelago can go for a maximum of 3 days, and have to pay thousands of dollars for a trip! I was there for 9 days (plus 2 days if travel in either direction) basically for free, and not only that, but I was privelidged to work with some of the most amazing people! A thousand Thank You`s to Jonathan, Alex, Cesar, and Eduardo!
OK! So what did we do? Well, there is so much that is unknown about this charismatic and gentle giant, the whale shark. Jonathan Green put together this project many years ago to study the whale sharks of the Galapagos Islands, and it has only recently come to fruition with this first trip to tag the sharks and follow their movements. This was an extremely successful trip, as we tagged 14 sharks, and have already started recieving their satellite signals, and they are 500kms away already!! 
What are they up to??? The whale shark population in Galapagos is apparently very special because it is largely females (whereas other populations are mostly males), and to add to the mystery.... most of these females are heavily pregnant when they visit the Galapagos Islands... Are they here to give birth to whale shark pups?
So, how did we do this? Well, in two teams of 4 people, we used scuba to wait on a ledge underwater where sharks frequently pass by. When a shark was encountered, we swam next to it, and used a speargun to shoot a dart into an area of thick cartilage near the dorsal fin, and send the satellite tag away with the shark on the end of a cable. Easy, right??? Well, it can be dangerous work, especially if the cable becomes entangled on someone, and the shark starts to pull them along (or down!).So, besides swimming with the largest fish in the world, we also saw schools of hammerhead sharks , green turtles, tunas, and even a passing pod of dolphins took a curious look at us one day while we were 'safety stopping'...!!!
In addition to the incredible underwater life, we were also graced with the most stunning views of Darwin, and 'El arco de Darwin' too! The wonderful cook aboard our boat fed us like kings (I need a diet)! Well, back to work now... yeah, this is a tough job.
