Posted on 06/16/2013 11:08:06 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Imagine fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and coming face to face with a 30-foot, 50,000 pound whale shark. Now imagine jumping ship, grabbing its fin and riding it.
Nineteen-year-old Chris Kreis of Fort Myers was fishing 30 miles off the Captiva's coast last Saturday when he encountered the world's largest fish species.
"It's massive, it's the size of the boat" Kreis said of the gentle giant.
Kreis jumped in, grabbed the fin and rode the fish for about twenty seconds. He posted a video of it to YouTube.
"When I started holding on I felt the whale shark it started moving itself, it felt the drag and it didn't really want me on there so I let go and that's it," Kreis described the ride,
Whale sharks are not an endangered or protected species. Riding them is not illegal, but marine biologist Bruce Neill says doing so can be harmful to both the fish and humans.
"When people spend a lot of time and pressure on a fish it takes away a slime that covers the fish. They need that layer to stay healthy. Losing it potentially has negative health impacts for the fish" Neill said.
Furthermore, Neill says even though the fish only feeds on plankton they can still hurt a person, "because they are so very large they could inflict some harm inadvertently."
Kreis had the ride of a lifetime and says he didn't know of the health impact human interaction can cause.
"I would jump in if I saw one again, but next time I wouldn't touch the fish" Kreis said.
The fish was not harmed during the encounter. Experts recommend reporting GPS coordinates of whale shark sighting as scientists continue to track their migration patterns.
Sounds like a fishtale to me.
He must be crushed at this news.
How many milli-seconds after this story broke did the Kenyan regime demand riding whale sharks be made illegal? Unless of course you pay for a license.
I remember about 20 years ago I went shark fishing off Long Island sound and we caught some Mako sharks or blue sharks, I cant remember which. But after we gutted them and sliced them into steaks and put them in the fridge, the next day the steaks were still moving! Pulsing like something out of horror movie, it was creepy as hell. They can’t die!! Now that is what I call a tough fish!!
Imagine jumping in and realizing - “ this isn’t a whale shark after all....”
whale shark vs a large great white,...well, it looked like a whale shark from the boat.....
The woman in Florida who rode a manatee — did she do time in prison? I forget.
Nah. They got married. All is cool.
Whale sharks are not an endangered or protected species. Riding them is not illegal, but marine biologist Bruce Neill says doing so can be harmful to both the fish and humans.
“When people spend a lot of time and pressure on a fish it takes away a slime that covers the fish. They need that layer to stay healthy. Losing it potentially has negative health impacts for the fish” Neill said.
Furthermore, Neill says even though the fish only feeds on plankton they can still hurt a person, “because they are so very large they could inflict some harm inadvertently.”
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These days, no exhilarating experience is complete without a wet blanket being thrown over the event by a spokesman for the ever-present, all-knowing Nanny-state!
Duh!!
"...hold muh beer"?
If that was my son he would have gotten a good whack on the head as soon as he got out of the water.
Being stupid can get you a Darwin Award pretty quick
I call BS on the claim that a man holding onto a whale fin causes any damage to the fish. In such a case a man’s hands can not remove enough of any slime on the fish to harm them. I would be more worried about damage to a man than damage to a fish
How come he didn’t ride that itty bitty little Hammerhead?
He should not have did what he did. When he jumped in to the water he could have caught his foot on a gas line running to the engine and started a fire resulting in an explosion. During the explosion part of the boat could have been flung up in to the sky and reflected sunlight directly in to the opticals of a passing spy satellite. The spy satellite could have mistaken the reflected light as a nuclear attack by the Russians. All of this would have started a thermonuclear war between the US and Russia resulting in a nuclear winter. That nuclear winter in turn could have killed all the Whale Sharks on the planet along with the entire human race!
It has become more and more obvious that people should stop doing anything. I mean right now, just stop. Don’t ever move again because it can result in something happening that might just be really really bad!
/s off
They were Makos. You don’t eat blue sharks.
I am sensing a future Darwin award winner here.
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