WHALE SHARK JOURNAL: - al.com

WHALE SHARK JOURNAL: - al.com: "There may never be a better time or place to have an encounter with the world's largest fish than right now off the Alabama coast.

For the past few weeks, unprecedented numbers of whale sharks have been seen cruising just a few miles off the beach, their broad snouts and tall dorsal fins breaking the surface as they swim lazily along, mouths agape, sucking in plankton.

I saw my first one a week ago while in the company of Eric Hoffmayer, a man who studies the giants for a living. He tagged a whale shark that day, only the sixth time that's ever been done in the Gulf."