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| © Alexa Groat A family spotted an endangered whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. |
By Rosie McCall, Newsweek
An endangered whale shark was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico during a boating trip near Siesta Key, southeast Florida, earlier this week.
Alexa Groat and her family chartered a fishing boat on Tuesday to celebrate her sister's birthday, when an unexpected guest gatecrashed the party. The group had taken the boat out to the Gulf of Mexico where they spotted the shark (Rhincodon typus) cruising near the surface of the water.
"It was a moment of clarity, that we are so small compared to the rest of the world," she told Newsweek. "I feel so incredibly lucky to have observed this natural beauty and to live on a planet that allows us to have such special moments with the nature around us."
At 40 feet, the whale shark is not only the world's largest shark, it is the world's largest fish—roughly three times the length of a great white.
Groat said the shark did not appear fazed as the group sailed closer and instead continued to swim along the side of the boat. It approached close enough for them to touch, though Groat said they did not.
"We would have jumped in to swim with the gentle creature but we were scared of what might be lurking under him," she said to Click Orlando.
Florida is known for its white sharks and has reported more shark attacks than any other state in the U.S. According to the International Shark Attack File, the Sunshine State has had 852 unprovoked shark attacks confirmed since records began in 1837, which is more than all other states combined (623).
However, despite its large size, the filter feeder is considered harmless to humans and is known to be docile around divers. People pose a much greater threat to the shark and a combination of fishing activity and collision with shipping vessels have caused populations to decline. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as endangered.
Rhincodon typus is a widely distributed species and can be found in most of the world's tropical and temperate oceans. According to the Florida Museum, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite analysis suggest there are two populations of whale shark—one that lives in the Atlantic Ocean and another found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Groat, who has lived in Florida her entire life, said she had not seen anything like it before.
"We used to take annual trips to the Florida Keys and boat days were a weekly occurrence all throughout my childhood, so I have definitely seen a fair share of amazing ocean life," Groat told Newsweek. "But nothing like this before."
"It felt surreal, I still catch myself saying that it doesn't even seem real," she added. "The shark was so big and so peaceful, I could not have imagined anything like it. It's funny to think about how much beauty exists in the world that we don't see every day."
Groat and her family were not the only group lucky enough to glimpse a whale shark this week. According to ABC Kimberly, campers walked past a shark feeding in the shallow waters of the Western Australia coast, near Broome—a sight experts described as "really rare."
"We've had them satellite-tracked where the depth of the water is more than 5,000 meters, so to see them in almost knee-deep water is pretty unusual—and pretty exciting," Brad Norman, research fellow at the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University, told ABC Kimberly.
An endangered whale shark was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico during a boating trip near Siesta Key, southeast Florida, earlier this week.
Alexa Groat and her family chartered a fishing boat on Tuesday to celebrate her sister's birthday, when an unexpected guest gatecrashed the party. The group had taken the boat out to the Gulf of Mexico where they spotted the shark (Rhincodon typus) cruising near the surface of the water.
"It was a moment of clarity, that we are so small compared to the rest of the world," she told Newsweek. "I feel so incredibly lucky to have observed this natural beauty and to live on a planet that allows us to have such special moments with the nature around us."
At 40 feet, the whale shark is not only the world's largest shark, it is the world's largest fish—roughly three times the length of a great white.
Groat said the shark did not appear fazed as the group sailed closer and instead continued to swim along the side of the boat. It approached close enough for them to touch, though Groat said they did not.
"We would have jumped in to swim with the gentle creature but we were scared of what might be lurking under him," she said to Click Orlando.
Florida is known for its white sharks and has reported more shark attacks than any other state in the U.S. According to the International Shark Attack File, the Sunshine State has had 852 unprovoked shark attacks confirmed since records began in 1837, which is more than all other states combined (623).
However, despite its large size, the filter feeder is considered harmless to humans and is known to be docile around divers. People pose a much greater threat to the shark and a combination of fishing activity and collision with shipping vessels have caused populations to decline. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as endangered.
Groat, who has lived in Florida her entire life, said she had not seen anything like it before.
"We used to take annual trips to the Florida Keys and boat days were a weekly occurrence all throughout my childhood, so I have definitely seen a fair share of amazing ocean life," Groat told Newsweek. "But nothing like this before."
"It felt surreal, I still catch myself saying that it doesn't even seem real," she added. "The shark was so big and so peaceful, I could not have imagined anything like it. It's funny to think about how much beauty exists in the world that we don't see every day."
Groat and her family were not the only group lucky enough to glimpse a whale shark this week. According to ABC Kimberly, campers walked past a shark feeding in the shallow waters of the Western Australia coast, near Broome—a sight experts described as "really rare."
"We've had them satellite-tracked where the depth of the water is more than 5,000 meters, so to see them in almost knee-deep water is pretty unusual—and pretty exciting," Brad Norman, research fellow at the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University, told ABC Kimberly.
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| © Alexa Groat A picture of the whale shark from the boat. Alexa Groat |
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