"Butanding" or Whale Shark of Sorsogon

Albay's neighboring province to the south, Sorsogon, is host to one of the highest concentration of Whale Sharks in the world. These creatures have been frequenting the waters off Donsol, Sorsogon for generations and in 1998, the Philippine Department of Tourism declared this area an official sanctuary for the Whale Shark, thus protected this fascinating species.

Butanding Adventure

Getting there: Donsol, Sorsogon is approximately 1-hour drive away from Legazpi City. The roads all the way to Donsol are well-paved, scenic and very accessible. There are several Taxis available that make daily routes from Legazpi to Donsol, Sorsogon.

What to bring: Although food is available at a number of locations in Donsol, you can bring your own if you want to enjoy a picnic there. If you plan to eat at Donsol, check with the Donsol Tourism Office for accredited eating establishments. Bring plenty of water.

You can bring along your snorkeling equipment (mask, snorkel, fins and water vest) but if you don't have any, these are also available for rental at the Donsol Tourism Office. Bring your swimsuits, towels, camera, some sun screen, sunglasses, a change of clothes, slippers, as well as sealable plastic bags to keep valuables. You can bring your own Life  Vest, but these are also available on the boat.

Arriving at Donsol, Sorsogon: Once in Donsol, proceed to the Donsol Tourism Office. If you drove in your own vehicle, there is plenty of space to safely park your vehicle there. If you took a public vehicle, make arrangements for your return trip to Legazpi. At the Tourism Office, you will be required to register and attend a brief orientation session prior to heading out to see the Whale Sharks.  You will also be required to pay the fee for: Boat Rental and Crew, Registration, and snorkeling equipment rental (if needed). The maximum number of registrants per boat is 7 people.

After Registration: After a brief orientation period on the rules and guidelines, you are ready to head out to sea on a 12m (40ft) boat. Your group will be accompanied by a BIO (Butanding Interaction Officer) who will serve as your guide while you're out in the water, one Spotter, on the look-out for the Butanding, and two crew members to man the boat.

Out in the Water: While there are no guarantees of being able to see the Whale Sharks, you can count on it that if you are there in the right time and season, it can literally take only a few minutes after leaving shore before you come across the first Butanding! Generally, you do not need to be out in deep waters in order to interact with the Whale Sharks. Your BIO will point them out and educate you on how to spot them, as well as provide additional information you need to know during the experience. The BIO's are quite knowledgeable and friendly, and are willing to answer your questions. When the BIO feels that the situation is ideal, he will instruct the crew on the boat's approach to the whale shark, and take the lead in getting you ready for the experience.

Seeing the Butanding for the first time is an extremely exciting experience. It is very important to keep the safety procedures in mind, and always follow the lead and instructions of your BIO. 

Duration: The whole experience can last anywhere from 1-4 hours, depending on how long you want to be out in the sea.

Season and Timing:  Although Butanding are spotted year-round in the waters off Sorsogon, the season starts around November and goes on through May. The peak season is February through April. The best times to go are in the morning, as the waters are clearer and it easier to spot the Whale Sharks. According to the locals, the Whale Sharks are also more abundant before noon. On peak season, it is very common for each visitor to see more than a dozen different Butanding.

Source: Albay Tourism

News from Sorsogon

The province boasts of fantastic beaches, centuries-old churches, and the most spectacular sightings of whales sharks, but mining and overdevelopment are threatening Sorsogon's long-term tourist potential.

by Luz Rimban

DONSOL, SORSOGON — As far as Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon is concerned, Donsol is heaven-sent. Since his first visit to the town in May, he has not stopped gushing about its tourism potential. He has been pitching the place as the best thing that has happened to the Philippines, the perfect "tourism product" to sell to foreigners, especially now that it's "Wow Philippines!" or Visit Philippines Year.

	The whale shark or butanding has become the biggest crowd-drawer in Donsol, Sorsogon, now the Bicol region’s top tourist destination. [underwater photos by Karina Escudero]

This interaction with the whale sharks may have been novel to Gordon, but it has been experienced by thousands of tourists who have been flocking to Donsol in increasing numbers the past five years. Previously, marine scientists thought that whale sharks — the world's largest living fish that could be anywhere from six to 18 meters long — were found only in the waters around Bohol island and some parts of the Visayas and Northern Mindanao. Donsol was never mentioned until 1998, when from out of the blue, Sorsogon province launched a campaign to stop the killing of butanding.

Known as the gentle giants of the deep, butanding had been sighted — and slaughtered — in some coastal towns of Sorsogon, but in greater numbers off Donsol, as far back as local residents can remember. Many fisherfolk here recall childhood encounters with whale sharks. Residents also say that a butanding can sell for as much as P20,000 apiece. Its fins are used for soup. Buyers, however, do not really go for the epicurean pleasures offered by the soft butanding meat, which has a consistency similar to tasteless tofu and melts easily into oil. Rather, say local residents, whale shark meat is used as an ingredient for perfume and scented candles much preferred by Taiwanese or Chinese traders.

But since that campaign to save the whale sharks, the townsfolk here have seen that they could live off the butanding without having to kill them. The butanding are a magnet for tourists, who have brought the town much-needed business. From being a fifth-class town in 1998, Donsol is now on its way to becoming a third-class municipality. Local officials, on the prodding of green groups, passed municipal ordinances to protect the whale sharks. These included regulating and supervising the entry of visitors into Donsol's waters.

This system now runs like clockwork. A visitor to Donsol has to register with the local tourism office, which has a list of resorts or home-stay accommodations. Local tourists pay a registration fee of P100; foreigners, P300. Visitors who want to meet the butanding up close are told to rent bancas from any member of the Boat Operators' Association. With the boat comes not only a boatman, but also a spotter, a local resident who is trained to do just that — spot a butanding. Visitors who plan to venture into the water may hire the services of butanding Interaction Officers or BIOs, usually local folk who are trained divers and who can give tourists a literal in-your-face experience with the butanding.

For the last five years, Donsol has pretty much existed on its own as an ecotourism haven, with minimal supervision from the Department of Tourism (DOT). It is true that facilities and services need improvement, but on the whole, tourists have been coming despite, or maybe because of, the rustic, provincial third-world state of affairs here.

THIS may all change soon if Gordon has his way. Tourism officials in Bicol say the tourism chief wants to keep the town the way it is, but there are plans to expand infrastructure. He is considering building an airstrip in Catundulan Point on the northern edge of town for Korean and Taiwanese visitors who may wish to fly direct to Donsol on chartered planes, and is even mulling the activation of the old airport in Bacon town, an hour's drive away. The DOT is also toying with the idea of building "floating hotels," the kind that can be pulled back into land during the lean season. A restaurant by the sea and a five-star hotel are also on the list of possibilities.

	Dolphins have also been spotted in the waters of Donsol.

Dr. Placido Alcantara, owner of one of the two resorts on Donsol beach, echoes this fear. "Building an airstrip might destroy the whole thing," he says. Alcantara foresees the time when Donsol will be teeming with more tourists than the town can handle, and not all of them would have the protection of the environment and the butandins on their minds. Alcantara recoils at the thought that Donsol might become another Sabang, a tourist section of Puerto Galera where flesh shops are wedged helter-skelter amid an assortment of inns and restaurants.

Already, Donsol has become the most popular destination in the Bicol region, which abounds with tourist attractions, among them the perfectly symmetrical Mayon Volcano, the ruins of the Cagsawa Church, and Tiwi Hot Springs. This year, even without the benefit of an all-out advertising campaign, the number of visitors who descended on Donsol for the butanding season of March till May was an unprecedented 2,000. Most were local tourists discouraged by the SARS scare from spending their vacation time and money going to Hong Kong, Singapore, or Thailand.

As the influx of tourists grows, local officials and townsfolk alike believe that reworking the rules and regulations are in order. Vice Mayor Salve Ocaya even says this should be part of a tourism master plan for Donsol. Ocaya thinks that there should be a holistic ecotourism program that would take into consideration not just supervising visits to the butanding habitat but also deciding which areas could be developed for tourism and what these would be for. This, however, can be done only if the town has a land-use policy. Unfortunately, Donsol doesn't have one. And so what master plan has been drawn up so far is merely a listing of possible infrastructure projects that will rise in the town.

Ocaya worries that if tourism here is allowed to flourish unmanaged, Donsol may have the same problems as Boracay, where tourist numbers exceed the island's capacity. The depletion of the town's water resources is one concern; another is setting up a sewage and waterworks system that will prevent a repeat of the coliform problem in Boracay.

Source: http://www.pcij.org/imag/Environment/sorsogon.html