Gentle giant makes rare appearance off Florida. See the majestic encounter with boaters
A group of Florida boaters got the experience of a lifetime when the ocean’s largest fish made a surprise appearance next to their boat.
The group was about 5 miles off the coast of Destin when they spotted a fin in the water, Ashley Nixon said in a Facebook comment.
A large fin moves above the water near their boat, a video shared by Nixon shows.
“That’s a whale, y’all,” one of the boaters is heard saying.
“That’s a hammerhead shark!” another yells.
The animal gets closer, and they realize it’s actually something much bigger – a whale shark.
Nixon’s family member, Jacob, shared another video of the close encounter with WEAR.
Although it’s one of the largest animals in the ocean, whale sharks are relatively elusive and are rarely spotted as they migrate around the world.
Whale sharks are known to move through the Gulf of Mexico during summer and fall, NOAA reports, but scientists have wondered where the gentle giants go after spending time eating plankton and fish eggs on the continental shelf.
A 2021 study reported only 800 sightings of whale sharks in the gulf between 1989 and 2016, averaging about 30 sightings per year, as reported in the journal Frontiers.
This story was originally published July 18, 2023 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Gentle giant makes rare appearance off Florida. See the majestic encounter with boaters."
