A Costa Rica tour group this week experienced a mesmerizing encounter with a whale shark measuring 15-plus feet in the emerald shallows off Guanacaste.
The accompanying footage was captured Monday by guide Jesus Rueda, whose translated video message reads, “I am so lucky, seriously!”
Whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, are filter feeders commonly referred to as gentle giants, which can measure 60-plus feet.
So the whale shark in Rueda’s footage, likely a juvenile, is small by whale shark standards but still enormous compared to other types of sharks.
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Whale shark sightings occur seasonally in Costa Rica, especially in the southwest beyond the Osa Peninsula. But sightings are uncommon.
Guanacaste is in northwest Costa Rica. Most whale shark sightings in this region occur at islands popular among scuba divers.
Rueda’s footage was shared by NTG Costa Rica, which boasted: “A truly spectacular moment was experienced at Nacascolo Beach, where none other than a majestic whale shark, the largest fish in the world, was captured [on video].”
Teletica reported that Rueda was returning from a tour with 18 passengers when the group encountered the whale shark and spent 10 minutes observing its behavior. Some of their reactions can be heard in the video.
