The ocean is full of surprises. But some are much bigger than others.
Last year, while exploring the waters off of Indonesia, a scuba diver with the company Manta Dive Gili Trawangan was met by a curious remora fish. Those sleek little swimmers are often seen traveling alongside sharks, but to the diver, this one appeared to be alone.
He was wrong.
As the diver interacted with the remora, he failed to notice the darkening shadow of a massive animal approaching him from behind:
Turns out, the world’s largest fish — a whale shark— was swimming in the water nearby. She passed directly through where the diver, the remora and the camera operator had been lingering.
An extended cut of the video above shows her massive size as she passed peacefully by.
Fortunately, despite their imposing size of around 40 feet in length, whale sharks pose no threat to people. Their diet consists of small organisms, such as plankton and shrimp.
An inadvertent bump from a whale shark could be painful, but the divers that day had just enough time to get out of the way.
“Respecting marine life is always our top priority,” Manta Dive Gili Trawangan wrote. “It’s so important to admire from a distance.”
Shark Swims Up To Diver For a Cuddle Every Time She Sees HimThis has been going on for 7 years!