A whale shark the size of six catsharks was spotted just 100 meters off the coast of Eilat in southern Israel, the Nature and Parks Authority confirmed.
The whale shark was detected by Sagi David Kavara, a diving instructor in the area, who noticed the shark in the nearby coral reserve.
"This is a very exciting encounter for me," he said in a statement. "In the last five years, I've had many encounters in the Gulf of Eilat, the last one being around six months ago. I waited a long time to see one again." Overall, he only saw the shark for around three minutes and 30 seconds.
Whale sharks are incredibly rare, though they are occasionally spotted in the Red Sea near Eilat, and these gigantic migratory fish can be seen almost everywhere so long as the water is warm enough.
What are whale sharks and how big are they?
Whale sharks are, by far the largest of all shark species, and by extension, the largest of all fish.
While whale sharks can grow to be over 18 meters in length. This one spotted in Eilat was apparently just around six meters. To put that in perspective, let's compare the whale shark to another type of shark: The catshark.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, catsharks grow to be as great as 100 centimeters in length. That means this whale shark was around the size of six other sharks, assuming those sharks were catsharks.
Despite their massive size and the fact that they have tooth-shaped scales on their eyes, whale sharks are absolutely harmless to humans, filter-feeding on plankton and small fish rather than anything larger like humans. In fact, whale sharks can be outright playful towards humans they spot in the water.
Though these sharks are harmless and overall friendly, gentle creatures, touching or riding one is illegal in most countries, including Israel. The reason for this is that while sharks are harmless, humans are not, and these sharks, which are already an endangered species, can be injured by human interactions.
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