Hand on the mask, regulator tightly gripped in my mouth. Preparation time is over as six of us are poised ready and waiting for the signal to back roll into azure blue, crystal-clear waters of the East China Sea. Hiroshi, our Japanese divemaster, counts down ''ichi, ni, san (1-2-3).'' Fins up, splash, rushing water and bubbles, head down we roll over guided downward by Hiroshi. Within seconds of our splash, amazement fills our masks when the largest of the Ocean's fish glides up from deep blue water greeting us with what appears to be a large smile across her face. Here, in the waters off Yomitan village, we are less than 30 seconds into a dive and face to face with a 26-foot whale shark that expects to be petted and fed. The shark is enormous. Twenty-six feet of anything is impressive, but 26 feet of fish is truly an impressive sight for divers accustomed to tropical fish and the occasional chance meeting with a turtle. Looking at the whale shark is not difficult. The shear size of shark causes its mass to fill your entire field of vision. The tiny tropical are quickly whisked away by the gentle swirl of the shark's long tail fin. We move forward, swimming with the shark in a slow descent that leads us to meet her friend, a smaller 16 16-foot whale shark that also calls the coastal off Yomitan home. Yomitan village sits on the west coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa. This island in the East China Sea is about 500 miles south of Tokyo and about 250 miles north of Taiwan. Okinawa has, in the past millenium, been an isolated sovereign state, a Shogunate of the warlords from Japan, and a holding within the Dynasties of China, and also a post World War II possession of the United States which was reverted to Japan's sovereignty in 1972. Yomitan village, which was the epicenter of an amphibious landing of U.S. troops during WWII, was not harmed by the unopposed landing and by-passed by soldiers on their approach to the main defenses at Naha. Today, Yomitan remains home to a very active fisherman's association, which supports the efforts of sea fairing families who have been taking their sustenance from the sea for centuries. Peaceful and peace loving people these gentle fishermen have a love for the ocean and a respect for the life it sustains. Five years ago, while fishing in the deep waters of the East China Sea, Yomitan fisherman, while pulling in their day's catch, found a whale shark entangled in their nets. Had the warmer waters of the Philippine Sea pushed the whale shark further north? Or was the shark lost in the currents moving the warmer water and its life giving clouds of krill and plankton northward? Whatever the cause these fisherman were facing a dilemma. How to extract the huge shark from their nets without cutting their precious, and expensive scanes? The shark, already weakened by the entanglement, also concerned the compassionate fisherman. Using radio they called the largest saltwater aquarium in Asia, the Expo Park Aquarium on Okinawa's Motobu Peninsula. Following guidance from the marine biologists here, the fishermen reluctantly cut their nets but were also instructed on how to recover the whale shark without killing it. Taking the advice of the biologists and using their skills from years at sea they transported the shark back to their village at Yomitan. The shark was placed in a series of bait nets all connected together giving the shark sufficient room to swim allowing it to recover from the trauma of being accidentally netted. The fisherman, continuing to be guided by marine biologists, nursed the shark back to health over a summer and educated themselves and others on what to do when a shark of this size is netted. This is the dive experience of a lifetime. Flashes and video strobes are illuminating our new friends in a manner that is reminiscent of Christmas morning or a New Year's Eve celebration. Flash, pop and light explosions continue with even higher intensity as Hiroshi opens up this morning's ''snack.'' Two 20-pound bags of krill are opened and released. The sharks open their enormous mouths and inhale the small cloud of krill in milliseconds. The intensity of their vacuum is immense pulling their snack immediately into their gullet, not to be seen again. The excitement of watching the feeding is over faster than it started. I hope the video captured the event because my mind was begging for an instant replay. Hiroshi now guides us inside their netted home that measures more than 150 yards wide and 80 feet deep. It is suspended on permanent mooring stays securing it just off the coast of Yomitan. This large area is only the temporary home for these two mammoth fish and provides protection from natural predators while they recuperate from being netted. It should be noted here that less than eight miles away, just off the coast of Ie Shima, a great white shark weighing more than 3000 pounds was hooked and landed in the early 1980s. Recuperation for these whale sharks can take as long as five months. Hiroshi tells us that progress is noted by the amount of food the sharks intake each day. He says that some sharks will go for weeks without eating when they are first placed in their ''home''net. These sharks are doing very well and are almost ready for release back into an unprotected environment. So the fisherman's association may recoup some of their losses from cut nets and fish food, they have successfully marketed the ingenious idea of allowing up to six divers per day to observe the feedings and swim with these gentle giants of the ocean. Divers can partake in one or both feedings as their budget allows. The morning or afternoon feeding is $90 or you can do both for just $130. Their alliances with dive shops and credentialed research groups worldwide have allowed the association to return healthy whale sharks back to open water. It gives divers the thrill of a lifetime while providing a comfortable laboratory environment in which academics can conduct research from. This is a very successful win-win situation for everyone that remains based on the compassion of a group of very hard working, ''salt of the earth'' fisherman. Since 1995, the association has aided in the recovery of six whale sharks inadvertently netted in the East China Sea. Four have been released to the open sea while two have been introduced into aquariums here on Okinawa or elsewhere in the Western Pacific. Diving face to face with a whale shark is an experience that is beyond description. I have enjoyed every dive with these amazingly friendly creatures and look forward to many more. Not very often do three communities come together in such harmony for the benefit of a fellow member of our underwater world.Additional ResourcesHOW TO GET TO YOMITAN: Okinawa is in the Western Pacific about 1200 south of Tokyo in the Ryukyu Archipelago. Japan Air Lines, China Air lines, all hub through Tokyo and Osaka. It is about a 13 hour flight from the Mainland United States. WATER CONDITIONS: Never lower than 68 in winter and a nice 85 during the summer from May to October. Great for photographers and those who do not like bulky wet suits and lots of weight.WHO TO DIVE WITH: Reef Encounters Dive Shop 011-81-98-939-0818.E-mail: [email protected] speaking dive tours to the whale sharks available. Web sites to visit: my web site at www.geocities.com/pentagon/7852/ or www.toriitraining.com