Today I Learned: You Can Swim With Whale Sharks in Leyte, Too

PINTUYAN, SOUTHERN LEYTE – “Ready to jump in?” asks our guide Carlito Mosot, gesturing to a looming shadow beside our boat. It’s a shark – and it’s much bigger than the boat.

The butanding or whale shark has become an icon of Philippine wildlife tourism. From being hunted in the 1990s, they’ve turned into both conservation icons and money magnets. They’re now the most widely seen fish in the country. Do you know why? Because every single newly-printed 100-peso bill features them.

But whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) aren’t actually whales, despite the name. They’re the largest of the three known filter-feeding sharks, growing over 50 feet and weighing as much as six adult elephants. Earth’s largest fish, they’re completely harmless – eating only plankton, tiny fish, shrimp, and squid.

Pinoys used to hunt and kill them. In the late '90s, over 800 whale sharks were caught and killed each year to supply meat and fin markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Whale shark meat smells like piss, but doesn’t stop the Chinese from eating it. Things changed in 1998, when whale sharks became a protected species in the Philippines.

However, global populations had already declined by over 90 percent, earning the species an endangered classification from the IUCN, plus national protection courtesy of the Amended Fisheries Code (RA 10654) and Appendix I of CITES.

These harmless giants have since transitioned from mere wildlife to tourism draws, generating millions of pesos through wildlife interactions that employ thousands of people. Donsol in Southern Luzon remains the country’s traditional hotbed for wild whale shark encounters.

Oslob in Southern Cebu is the cash cow, raking in big bucks and huge crowds through a controversial feeding practice that alters natural shark behavior and keeps sharks in place for most of the year.

Pintuyan in Southern Leyte’s Sogod Bay is the newcomer, working quietly to establish itself as an ethical whale shark destination, modeled after Donsol.

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“In the old days, our fishers drove off or even killed whale sharks or tiki-tiki because they scared away smaller fish and plowed through our nets,” recalls Pintuyan Mayor Ricarte Estrella. “In 2006, we saw how Donsol was leading the way in terms of sustainable ecotourism. We wanted to emulate their adventure-based system, which doesn’t rely on feeding. We’re still a long way from the commercial scale of Oslob or Donsol, but we’re content to take things slow and give our visitors a simpler, but more ethical experience.”

The financial contrast between the three regions highlights these differing approaches – Oslob in Southern Cebu attracts roughly 500,000 visitors and generates P300 million annually. Though uplifting the local economy, environmentalists heavily criticize its assembly-line system, which feeds the sharks uyap or sergestid shrimp to encourage them to stay in shallow waters year-round.

“When tourism activities threaten whale sharks and other protected species through conditioning, creating artificial aggregations, disrupting natural feeding and migratory behavior, discouraging movement into deeper waters, or altering the habitats where interactions occur – then these activities cannot be considered good for conservation,” says Dr. AA Yaptinchay of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines.

Donsol in Sorsogon attracts up to 30,000 visitors and generates around P30 million annually. Backed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Donsol pioneered sustainable shark tourism and research in the country. “From 2007 to 2025, we documented 784 individual whale sharks,” says WWF’s Jun Narvadez. “We recorded 49 individuals this season, including 28 new sharks – a testament to the continued wealth of Donsol’s waters and the importance of butanding conservation.”

Pintuyan in Southern Leyte annually welcomes less than 5000 visitors – mostly European divers – to earn under P3 million annually. “But this is something we hope to build on, since we have lots of unique experiences to offer our guests,” promises Estrella. “Aside from diving, we also offer our guests a unique experience in the form of ‘squidding’ or squid fishing. Guests can board a bangka to catch and eat tiny squid at sunset.”

Locally called buko-buko, the pygmy squid grows no larger than a finger, glows in the dark, and can be eaten raw. Careful, though, for they can bite like a maya bird with their little buko-buko beaks.

“They taste great, and we can catch as many as we like every summer,” says local fisher Mario Mateo. “Tourists really love buko-buko, but our main attraction is really the whale sharks.”

“Go, go, jump in!” shouts Mosot, back on the boat.

We jump into the water. With the sharks.

Unlike Oslob, where the water carries the lingering scent of dead shrimp, or Donsol, where thick plankton blooms limit visibility to a dozen feet, Pintuyan offers clear water. Morning sunrays slice the blue to highlight the spotted constellations on the backs of the sharks, swimming lazily around us.

Pintuyan’s friendly tiki-tiki regard us with a mix of curiosity and indifference. They dwarf us, after all.

At around five meters apiece, they’re smaller than the sharks of Donsol, some of which exceed 10 meters in length. Some also exhibit scars and cuts, evidence of accidental hits from boat propellers – but on the whole, they seem happy, healthy, and most of all – wild.

For 30 magical minutes, we swim alongside tiki-tiki, several rising to the surface to gorge on plankton, which also attracts smaller fish like fusiliers and mackerel. I’ve swum with whale sharks all over the country, and this is among the best experiences I’ve had.

“Pintuyan has much to offer, from rugged mountains to vibrant coral reefs,” shares Boboi Costas, an ecotourism guru who has been quietly helping communities nationwide discover and market the beauty of their hometowns. “My hope is to see it flourish as a premier marine destination where local communities, the government, and the private sector work hand-in-hand to benefit both the people and the environment.”

Pintuyan's commitment to wild, unfed encounters rightfully deserves international recognition. If its people can balance economic growth with global ethical standards, then it might not just become a top whale shark hotspot – but an example of what ethical shark tourism can be.

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