When I speak to Tim Williams, he is sitting watching the ocean, staring out to the Five Islands, Port Kembla.
“You’re not going to believe me,” he says. “I’m actually looking at dolphins right now.”
There’s a few constants in his life; his family, a love for nature and time carved out to fish. While there’s a lot to appreciate when land-based fishing, Tim loads up his jet-ski and heads up to 13 kilometres out every week or two. It’s a different world out there and it’s not uncommon for him to spot dolphins, sharks, seals and even whales.
But the world’s largest living fish, a whale shark off Bass Islet? No one was expecting that.
Tim, his wife and two kids swapped the heat and stress of Penrith for the Illawarra's coastal lifestyle a few years back, a move he says has been life changing.
“Sydney is so packed and overfished. It’s a totally different experience here. As much as I can, I just love being on or around the water.”
Bass Islet is one of Port Kembla’s Five Islands and about three kilometres from shore. Tim had headed there after a relatively quiet morning, fishing wise.
“I was trying to catch some snapper and I heard a bit of a noise to my left but when you’re out there all the time you see so much that a dolphin doesn’t faze you as much, a whale doesn’t faze you as much,” Tim said.
“So I was a little bit task focused and it didn’t really register that there was something near me.
"I looked to my left and I couldn’t believe that there was a whale shark and that it was sitting with its chin on the back of the ski!”
While Tim has two GoPros on board, he was so shocked that he ended up capturing only the tail end of the encounter.
“My brain wasn’t registering as they just aren’t here. I couldn’t compute. I was like, I know that’s a whale shark but it doesn’t make sense.”
Whale sharks are usually found in tropical oceans throughout the world and that’s why when spotted in Australia it’s usually off the coast of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. They have been sighted down in Eden and even occasionally in Victoria but it’s not at all common, which makes Tim’s encounter even more special.
“It was so curious,” Tim said.
“It was coming up to see what was on top of this thing [the jet-ski]. While it was there it started to rub itself against the ski a little bit. You could see its eyes, it was looking and it was definitely curious.”
The unforgettable experience only lasted a few minutes but Tim is quick to point out that out on the ocean, far from shore, is a whole world that many of us just aren’t aware of.
“Every time I go out I see dolphins, seal, whales. It’s standard for me to go out on a weekend and be out there with some large creature. Your average person just doesn’t see that.”
To see some of the animals Tim encounters head to Tim's YouTube Channel
