Whale shark – Syndication Server

Rare whale shark spotted by pilot off Southern California

A Southern California fish spotter on Sunday captured aerial footage showing a whale shark swimming lazily on the surface southeast of Santa Catalina Island.

A Southern California fish spotter on Sunday captured aerial footage showing a 20-foot whale shark swimming lazily on the surface southeast of Santa Catalina Island.

“Notice the remoras fall off and swim back to it,” Carl Sbarounis observed via Instagram. “Plus there’s fish swimming in front of its mouth. Has its own ecosystem.”

The footage, posted below, is extremely rare because whale sharks – the largest shark and fish species on the planet – inhabit tropical waters and do not typically range so far north.

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Only a handful of sightings have been documented in recent decades and Sbarounis’ sighting was his second since Sept. 1, he said, perhaps involving the same whale shark.

Whale shark sightings also were logged last week by whale-watching companies off San Diego.

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Dorado, or mahi-mahi, and yellowfin tuna are other exotic visitors to have followed unusually warm sea-surface temperatures into Southern California waters in recent weeks.

Whale sharks, which can measure 40 feet and weigh 20,000 pounds, are found in tropical waters around the world. They’re most commonly observed in regions such as Mexico, Belize, Western Australia, and Thailand.

The filter feeders are commonly referred to as gentle giants because they’re so docile as they swim in pursuit of plankton, krill, and small fishes. Remoras and pilot fish sometimes accompany whale sharks, feeding on parasites and bacteria that form on their massive bodies.

Sbarounis is a fish spotter for the commercial fishing industry.

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Largest shark on planet wows boaters in rare California showing

A San Diego whale-watching company logged an extraordinary daily double Monday with sightings of a blue whale and a whale shark.

A San Diego whale-watching company logged an extraordinary daily double Monday with the sighting of a blue whale and a whale shark.

The blue whale is the planet’s largest creature, but the rarer sighting was that of the whale shark – the planet’s largest fish species – far north of its typical range.

“I always say ‘you never know what you’re going to see out there’ and today proved that!” San Diego Whale Watch boasted on Facebook. “Not only did we find hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins, but we found a blue whale, two Molas [sunfish] and a WHALE SHARK!”

Whale sharks, filter feeders that can measure 40-plus feet, are found in tropical waters around the world, including Mexico and Hawaii. Sightings off Southern California are exceedingly rare.

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But hot weather and light winds have allowed for unusually high sea surface temperatures, inviting exotic species such as dorado, or mahi-mahi, and at least the one whale shark.

(Blue whales, which can measure 100 feet and weigh more than 150 tons, feed off California every summer.)

The whale shark that greeted San Diego Whale Watch passengers and crew swam near the boat, allowing for lots of gawking and picture-taking.

The “gentle giants” are incredibly popular among scuba divers and snorkelers in areas they’re known to frequent.

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Hawaii freediver happily endures whale shark ‘attack’; video

Kara Pedersen was spearfishing off Oahu’s Waianae coast last weekend when her dive partner yelled, “Shark!” It turned out to be a giant whale shark that “plowed right into me.”

Kara Pedersen was spearfishing off Oahu’s Waianae coast last week when her dive partner yelled, “Shark!”

Pedersen looked up, expecting to see a dangerous tiger shark. But it was a much larger whale shark that apparently did not see her.

“When I looked up there was a massive whale shark right behind him and headed straight towards me,” Pedersen, a veteran freediver, told For The Win Outdoors. “I didn’t have enough time to swim out of the way and it just plowed right into me, pushing me onto its back.

“It was simultaneously one of the coolest and scariest moments of my life. To feel the force of an animal so big was pretty surreal.” (See Pedersen’s video below and on Instagram.)

Whale shark sightings off Waianae are rare so it was a wonderful surprise for Pedersen and Steve Murphy to be able to swim alongside the plankton-eating gentle giant for several minutes.

The footage, jokingly titled, “Shark Attack,” shows a portion of the encounter that occurred after Pedersen and Murphy had been tossed a GoPro from the dive boat.

Interestingly, the whale shark seemed to interact with both freedivers (no scuba gear), especially Pedersen, as Galapagos sharks lingered a bit farther away.

Whale shark swims toward the camera. Photo: Kara Pedersen

Pedersen’s boyfriend, Rob Ryan, was on the boat cleaning a fish that he had speared before the whale shark appeared, perhaps explaining the shark activity.

Of the initial collision, Pedersen said, “Luckily, they are harmless animals and I was able to push off and get out of the way of its tail.

“Surprisingly though, she kept swimming back towards me and made several close passes. I think she really liked my Waihana wetsuit and how I blended into the environment.”

Whale sharks are the planet’s largest fish and can measure nearly 40 feet and weigh 20,000 pounds. They feed by swimming through plankton blooms with their mouths open.

Pedersen said swimming with a whale shark had always been on her bucket list and added: “But this encounter exceeded our expectations.”

Whale shark greets anglers in extremely rare SoCal encounter

For a group of Southern California anglers on Sunday, the extremely rare sighting of a 15-foot whale shark more than made up for the lousy fishing.

“Coolest sighting, hands down,” Joey Engel, whose image accompanies this post, told For The Win Outdoors.

Engel, a deckhand for Dana Wharf Sportfishing, ventured offshore with friends in what would be a long and fruitless search for tuna. But the appearance of a whale shark, 35 miles southwest of Dana Point, broke the monotony of trolling.

Whale shark spotted by anglers Sunday at the 181 spot. Photo: Joey Engel

Engel said the gentle giant hung out for about eight minutes and “did one circle before he left.”

Whale sharks, which feed on plankton, are the world’s largest fish and can measure 30-plus feet. They inhabit tropical and warm-temperate waters and are sometimes encountered off southern Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez. But only a handful of sightings have been documented off Southern California – all in late summer during the past six years.

Engel said the water temperature at the 181 fathom spot, where they were fishing, was 72 degrees.

Whale shark encountered near Catalina in 2015. Photo: Triton Sportfishing

After the sighting of a 25-foot whale shark near Catalina on Sept. 15 2015 – five years to the day before Sunday’s sighting – Southern California-based shark expert Chris Lowe stated:

“I’d say that is very rare for our neck of the woods. I have heard accounts of occasional manta, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and wayward tiger sharks, but whale sharks are pretty rare this far north.”