On August 30th as a celebration of
International Whale Shark Day, the Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center
(WSORC) played host to a lively afternoon dock party at the Utila Lodge
Resort. A highly energetic and animated
slackline competition provided great entertainment as did DJ Cynia kicking off
the afternoon party with great tunes blaring out! Cheap beer & rum were enjoyed by many in
a beautifully typical Utilian afternoon sunshine, surrounded by clear turquoise
waters and people having fun on the slackline and in the water. Thank you to
all Utila´s Whale Shark LOVERS out there who came to support us!
Photo credit to Simon Hilbourne
The day was pleasant
and sunny, and much appreciated after a somewhat fretful night of high winds
and heavy rainfall! Miraculously, it was
the perfect weather for having an outdoor afternoon party. During the morning
WSORC volunteers, along with the kind help of two enthusiastic BICA volunteers
as well as staff from the Bay Islands College of Diving (BICD) and the Utila
Lodge set up everything on the dock; music, beer coolers, beers on ice, tables,
posters and the slacklines.
People started
arriving at the Utila Lodge dock past noon in blazing sunshine to the sounds of
Caribbean rhythms being played across the bay. Beer was sold for just 25Lps
with all proceeds going to WSORC, from a beer table with the advertising slogan
“Save a whale shark, drink a beer!” and
to get the competitors’ balance started those who bought tickets for the slackline
competition received their 1st beer free! The Utila Lodge sold tasty BBQ food plates
for 100Lps and soft drinks and mixers were available at the Lodge bar.
The motivation
behind our fundraiser was to promote International Whale Shark Day and raise
awareness about the importance of whale sharks to Utila, and build upon our
conservation efforts for these majestic giants.
There were 2
slacklines, one for practicing and the other one for the competition. Even visitors
who were not competing tried their luck on the slacklines! As the afternoon progressed so did the
boldness of the attempts, providing great entertainment for all the
spectators. DJ Cynia continued to throw
out a myriad of classic Caribbean tunes with her excellent music selection,
which was clearly undeniable to all the dancing feet around the dock!
When everyone was
ready and present the competition began. There were 11 participants in total, and
a blind name draw from a bucket helped set up the contestants for round 1. Each
competitor received two attempts on the slackline, and those who got furthest along
the slackline progressed into the following rounds, culminating in a grand
finale between Bradley Shellito (a PADI Dive Instructor who is no stranger to
the island of Utila), Jamie Lamb (one of BICD’s current Dive Masters in
training), and Emily Moore (coincidentally one of the BICA volunteers who
helped out earlier in the day).
After an entertaining battle to mark the end of
the afternoon, Bradley was announced the winner of 1st prize! He received
1000Lps for coming first and supporting the whale sharks! Second place was
taken by Jamie, who received a crate of Salva Vida beer, and in third place was
Emily who received 2 fun dives that had been generously donated by BICD. Congratulations to our worthy winners! And huge thanks to all the competitors who
got involved, all of our friends who came out to support us, all of the staff
and volunteers involved in making the day such a success, and massive thanks to
UK based MAVERICK SLACKLINES for generously donating the brand new slackline
gear to the center! Happy International
Whale Shark Day August 30th 2013!!!
And our three worth winners from the afternoon!
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