A whale shark recently decided to nudge and loiter around a charter boat for four-plus hours off Australia’s Northern Territory, so of course one of the crew was compelled to jump in and ride the critter.
The nighttime encounter occurred 100 miles west of Darwin, and at one point the whale shark, which was feeding with its mouth open, bumped into a 15-foot tender tied to the mother ship.
“He ain’t real smart. Lucky he’s pretty,” one of the men can be heard saying in the accompanying footage.
The boat was from Cannon Charters and the commentary is from Benny “the Bushman” Sambrooks, a guide who seems to be the person jumping in to swim briefly with the whale shark.
Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish, reaching lengths of about 40 feet. They’re found in tropical seas around the world, but their migration patterns remain mysterious.
Fortunately for Sambrooks, the sharks feed largely on plankton and are harmless to humans.
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