I do not recall the last time I read about a dive spot where, in discussing the number of whale sharks to be seen, are said to be in "the hundreds". But the Washington Post's Andrea Sachs, in answer to a query from a curious reader, says as much about a place near Perth, Australia called Ningaloo Reef Marine Park. I've got a couple of buddies who headed out just this week for Australia, and the sad fact is, I was invited to go. But due to the chains attached to my legs and connected to my desk here in New York City, I could not go. How much did I want to heave off these oppressive shackles? Man, if you only knew. Sigh.

No matter. Let me get back to the reef in question. The 160-mile-long Ningaloo is Australia's longest fringing coral reef, and they are very conservation-minded about it, setting all sorts of limits on human-animal interaction. The result of this (rather unusual) discipline is that you must hire an accredited tour operator to go. These operators know exactly where the whale sharks hangout, but they are also there to educate and make sure that you don't do something stupid like spear one of them.

Anyway, it's a quick read, but it got my adventuresome blood flowing.