Jaunted

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Big Fish Show Up Early at Ningaloo Reef

The east coast of Australia is (understandably) proud of its Great Barrier Reef but the west coast is equally pleased with its lesser-known Ningaloo Reef, a 180-mile long fringed reef running close to the coast which is most famous for being a place that whale sharks like to hang out.

The good news is that the whale sharks are back. These amazing creatures--officially the world's largest fish--have just started showing up for the season along the Ningaloo coast, 750 miles north of Perth. This is a bonus for tourism because the whale sharks must have misplaced their calendars--they're early.

Most years they turn up sometime in April, but there have been sightings since last week already. Since the Ningaloo Reef is one of the few places in the world where you can reliably spot whale sharks so close to shore, we figure it's a place worth getting to, any time from now until July when the creatures usually get on their way again.

Related Stories:
· World's Largest Fish Make Early Splash [WA Today]
· Sammy the Whale Shark No Longer A Prisoner [HotelChatter]
· Western Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: mjwinoz]