A fisherman was surprised by a whale shark whilst out on the water on his jetski.
Video / Supplied
An Auckland man had the encounter of a lifetime when a 5m-long creature swam around and under his boat, before knocking it and swimming off.
Darren Vernon told the Herald he was fishing on a jetski in Northland’s Doubtless Bay on Christmas Eve when he sawa whale shark move in the water ahead of him.
“It was cruising along so slowly and it came closer and closer and swam around my jetski a couple of times,” he said.
“I got the camera out, it swam away and came back a few moments later. It came right up to my jetski, bumped into it, carried on going around the front and then swam off.”
A whale shark was seen by Daz Vernon from Auckland off the Northland Coast.
He estimated the encounter lasted about five minutes.
Vernon said that at one point, he was concerned the creature might bump him off the jet ski, but he never felt scared.
“I know whale sharks are friendly and people swim with them in the Philippines and Western Australia,” he said.
“The reaction when I told everyone was they couldn’t believe I saw a whale shark in New Zealand waters. I’m not sure if they are that common to be down here because normally they are in the tropics.”
