Incredible moment the world’s largest fish swims just metres from a boat – leaving those on board stunned
- Stunned skipper and passengers had an amazing encounter with whale shark
- Nik Weyel was running wildlife charter when whale shark swam by the boat
- One of his crew were able to capture the awe inspiring moment on camera
The incredible moment a whale shark swam right up to a boat full of tourists has been captured on camera.
Skipper Nik Weyel, from New Zealand, had 19 passengers on his boat, the Bay Explorer, when the enormous fish swam past.
The group had originally paid to see dolphins but were treated to much more special experience when they were about 11km off Mauao on the South Island.
Weyel was left completely amazed by the experience and took to Facebook to share the video.
Nik Weyel was taking visitors on a dolphin and sea life charter off the coast of a when their boat was visited by a 10-metre-long whale shark (pictured)
‘Something very very special happened today at work and I don’t think I’ll ever forget this moment,’ he wrote.
‘Right here in Tauranga on board Bay Explorer.
‘Excuse my extreme excitement but I’m sure you can all understand.’
In the video the 10-metre-long whale shark is seen slowly swimming towards the boat in the still waters 11km off Mauao.
‘We were out looking for dolphins. We had a pretty bad run today. So there weren’t many dolphins out there,’ Mr Weyel told The New Zealand Herald.
‘But then we came across this fin. I instantly thought it was a hammerhead [shark] because we see lots of hammerheads.’
When he asked fellow passenger Heidi Glimaker what the creature was she told him it was a whale shark.
‘It is unbelievably rare. They are the largest fish on the planet and they are super rare. It was quite an experience to come across that in the water and it was right underneath me,’ he said.
The video drew the attention of Facebook users who were equally excited for the crew and their passengers.
‘Awesome Nik. What a buzz that must’ve been,’ one wrote.
‘Holy s*** a whale shark that’s a once in a never,’ another added excitedly.
‘Ohhhh my god!!!!!’ a third responded.
Mr Weyel said it was a very rare experience to encounter a whale shark