This is the spectacular moment when a huge whale shark videotapes a group of tourists in the Philippines.
Footage from Milkie Espinosa Rodrigo and his friends shows the gentle giant approaching the group as they were swimming in Oslo, CeƄu City, over the weekend.
OsloƄ is a small coastal city that is famous for the whale sharks that roam its seas.
Milkie said of the fantastic moment: “It was a bit scary at first as the shark seemed too friendly.”
They kept coming even when we shooed them away.
We’ve been wanting to do this for years and were finally able to go through with the trip despite the pandemic.
“It was an incredible, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Footage of the group of friends swimming in the sea off OsloƄ, CeƄu City, Philippines, shows the gentle giant approaching them as it rises to the surface.
The tourist Milkie Espinosa Rodrigo, who had the images, “It was an incredible, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
In the footage, filmed on November 28, the group holds on to the wooden beams attached to either side of the float and heads for the camera above and below the water.
As the camera echoes suffer, the shadow of a whale shark can be seen in the background.
A smaller whale shark can be seen gaping at the surface, which the species does to filter plankton.
Then the larger whale shark appears to the right of the shot.
The group clung to the wooden beams attached to each side of the Ƅoat, as pictured, as they moved toward the camera at Ƅoʋe and underwater.
Experts say that these sharks do not pose a significant danger to humans as their diet consists of plankton and small fish.
At first, the group members move away from the animal, but soon realize they are in no danger and head towards it.
Whale sharks are classified as the largest fish on the planet. They grow up to 39 feet long and can live up to 150 years.
But they are endangered and classified as a threatened species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Experts say that these sharks do not pose a significant danger to humans as their diet consists of plankton and small fish.
