Chris Kreis came face to face with the whale shark while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

Jun 17, 2013 18:21 GMT  ·  By

The video above was shot this past Saturday in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It shows one very brave 19-year-old hitching a ride on the back of a whale shark that just happened to be swimming by while he was busy fishing.

By the looks of it, the shark was nearly as big as Chris Kreis' boat. Still, this did not stop the teenager from jumping on its back, grabbing hold of its fin and enjoying a relatively smooth ride.

Chris says that he let go of the shark the moment he felt that the latter wasn't exactly happy about the idea of having a human attached to its fin.

My only question is: why would anyone even think about stressing an animal in this manner in the first place?

Sharks and other marine mammals already have nets and other fishing gear to fear, so I dare say humans would do best to let them be and not interfere with their daily routine just for the sake of entertainment.