A recent excursion in the Texas Gulf presented some boaters with a rare and enchanting sight — the largest fish in the world swimming just below the surface.
Alexus Jade was several miles off the coast with her friend Addison Smith, founder of Port Aransas-based Gulf Magic Charters, when a whale shark was spotted in the water.
“I have never seen a whale shark offshore in Port Aransas,” Jade said, according to Chron. “What makes this … a big deal is that the water is not very deep around there and whale sharks are pretty large. It is rare to see them that close to the shore.”
Smith jumped into the water to get a closer look at the majestic beast.
Her up-close encounter was captured on video and quickly went viral on TikTok, garnering over 172,000 views as of August 17.
@alexus_jade Bless to have witnessed this so close to shore is an understatement! @Addison Smith #offshore #tiktok #fyp #explore #fishing #outdoors #saltwaterfishing #boatlife #saltwater #portaransas #texas
In the clip, the massive fish sways calmly in the water, seemingly unfazed by the human visitors. Its grey, yellow, and white dots — a pattern unique to every individual whale shark, much like a fingerprint — present a striking contrast to the remoras accompanying it.
“The whale’s behavior was very calm … just cruising around the water with other sea life swimming around it,” Jade explained, per Chron. “It was just swimming around until it finally dove back down.”
Whale sharks are an endangered species that can grow to 40 feet in length. Weighing in at approximately 11 tons, they need a lot of food. As filter feeders, they stretch their mouths open and suck up shrimp, small fish, and plankton using their gill rakers.
While they have over 3,000 teeth, whale sharks’ teeth are tiny and pose no threat to humans. However, there have been reported instances of whale sharks ramming boats, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Still, they typically swim at a speed of around 3 miles per hour.
Approximately 10% of newborn whale sharks will make it to adulthood, and they are believed to have a life expectancy of up to 150 years.
Another rare sighting that happened recently on the Texas Gulf was of a large loggerhead sea turtle. The massive creature — known to grow to between 170 and 500 pounds — washed up on Quintana Beach earlier this month, as reported by The Dallas Express. Unlike whale sharks, loggerheads have powerful jaws, which they use to feed on fish, crabs, squid, clams, and sponges.
