Niki and the whaleshark

I spent a great time in Somabay in Egypt, being invited by Orca Dive Clubs. I have been to the Soma Bay several times and always enjoyed the perfect conditions of this area - so close to the red sea, where you can dive as deep as you can.

This year has been very succesfull for me. I sold my diveshop and was not sure if I could make my living on freediving. But this year was great and although I was able to work as much as I could, there were still great jobs I could not do due to other appointments. I was freediving with sharks, whales, mantarays and dolphins in Mexico, Bahamas, Egypt and I even saw the greek turtoise in turkey. But..... so far I haven´t seen a whaleshark. And of course as I was never invited to the Maledives ( ähem...maybe outside there is somebody who would like to see me there ??????? ), so I didn´t expect to see the whaleshark in the wonderful Somabay. I have to admit I am not the big explorer - usually you neet to bang my head against something so I recognise it. But this time we were getting the ropes out of the water after a long deepdiving Session. Some of the students have already left the water( poor guys) ,  when Chris another SSI Freediving Instructor screamed "whaleshark". And here he was - the biggest fish in the world. It seems like he was standing but even with my mares carbon fins, I was unable to follow him. What a wonderful animal. In case you want to see this fish together with me in the upcomming year - please check www.orca-diveclubs.com or www.nikolaylinder.de for the next freediving week in the somabay in April. We expect the whaleshark to be there too.