A group of fishermen at Catalina were treated to a rare surprise on Sunday: a huge whale shark.
The group was aboard the Triton, a sport fishing boat which runs from Long Beach Sportfishing, when they spotted the giant fish, estimated to be 25 feet in length. It approached and even bumped into the Triton, to the delight of all on board.
Here’s a short video of the encounter:
More photos and a radio interview with the captain can be seen/heard by clicking here.
Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish and have been measured at more than 40 feet long. They are plankton eaters, and usually seen by divers in the warmer waters of Southern Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez. It’s speculated that this one traveled farther north due to a wide swath of unusually warm water stretching up from Baja. Sea surface temperatures are about five degrees above normal for many southern California locations.