Donsol home of the Whale Sharks

Found on www.goodnewspilipinas.com

It's the start of the butanding (whale shark) season in the rustic town of Donsol, Sorsogon. All roads and transportation are headed to the city, as tourists would like to interact and swim alongside these "gentle giants."

Donsol Mayor Salve Ocaya beams with pride as she reveals that the butanding interaction tours by local and foreign visitors has brought about 75 percent increase in the livelihood of the townsfolk since 2004.

"There has been more than 11,000 visitors who have joined the butanding interaction tours since these have been instituted in 2002. Moreover, boat rentals and registration fees for the butanding interaction tours have reached R50 million once we add the income from the resorts, restaurants and transport services," the Department of Tourism revealed.

The municipality of Donsol has also come up with a month-long festival in April to honor the butanding and as thanksgiving for the townsfolk's additional jobs and livelihood derived from local and foreign visitors' interaction tours with the "gentle giants".

During the Butanding Festival, the local people and visitors participate in a celebration of the holy mass, motorcade, street dancing competition, trade and beverage fair, marathon and butanding extra challenge, where local and foreign participants will compete as to the most number of butanding sightings during the day. The festival culminates with a regatta exhibition and maritime parade consisting of more than 50 boats with banners and giant images of the butanding along the Donsol River.

After the exhilarating butanding experience, individual travelers may visit other places near Donsol like the Tangkulan Mangrove Eco-Tour Park, Nahulugan Falls in Barangay San Rafael, the Astillero Shipyard Archeological Site in Barangay Dancalan and the magical firefly watching tour in the evening in the Donsol River.

The whale shark (rhincodon typus) is the world's largest fish. Known in Donsol as "butanding" and as "balilan," "kulwano," "tawiki," and "toki" in other parts of the Philippines, whale sharks are known to grow to lengths of up to 18 meters, weigh up to 40 tons and live up to more than 100 years.

Whale sharks appear in Donsol waters in considerable numbers between December and May of each year taking advantage of dense food concentration of plankton, krill, small fish, squid and invertebrate larvae. With Donsol as a seasonal feeding ground for whale sharks, scientists and environmentalists have the opportunity to study them more.

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