Divers Get Close to 25-Foot Whale Shark During Scuba Diving Adventures

A recent boat charter in Florida led two scuba diving instructors and a group of customers to a rare sighting of a 25 foot-long whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico.

Brennan Russell and Kathy Allison from the Tanked Up Scuba Centre in Palm Harbour were accompanying six customers on their scuba diving adventures when a crew member suddenly spotted what he thought was a dorsal fin.

The ship's captain, Tim, has been working on boats since he was seven years old and he has a lot of knowledge about the local marine life.

"One of the crew members saw a fin and said, 'Oh look, dolphin!'" he explained. "Upon closer examination, it wasn't a dolphin. I could tell just by the dorsal fin and the tail sticking up that we had quite the experience ahead of us."

The two diving instructors jumped in the water to get a closer look at what turned out to be a huge whale shark.

Russell, a divemaster at the scuba diving centre, said: "It was unbelievable. The shark was just breathtaking. It was so big, it was hard to comprehend. The sheer size of it was unbelievable.

"He was just moseying right along, not hurrying anybody. It was really cool to see him that close and to have that encounter."

Captain Tim was watching the scuba diving adventures from the boat while another person videoed the exciting encounter.

"The shark was so big and his tail just moved nice and slow, which made you think, 'Oh, he's not going that fast'. But, the people in the water were swimming as fast as they could and they couldn't keep up with him," Captain Tim explained.

Whale sharks are often spotted in tropical scuba diving destinations and they are known as the "friendly giants" because they are passive and they live on a diet of plankton and small fish.

After jumping in the water, divemaster Allison realised she had jumped right in front of the whale shark's path.

"It got right at me and I realised I need to get out of the way," she said. "It was amazing and intimidating. I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are thriving with magnificent marine creatures, and the region's colourful reefs, deep caves and historic shipwrecks attract thousands of tourists taking scuba diving holidays every year.

While scuba diving in Florida, divers can glide alongside dolphins, sea turtles, butterfly fish, sharks, whales, rays, and eels.