The two-minute video clip posted up by Facebook user Lake Chao Tong shows the whale shark swimming around the long-tail boat. The caption with the video explained that anglers on board the vessel were fishing near Cape Phrom Thep when the creature approached.
The caption noted that the whale shark was not fazed by the presence of the boat and seemed to want to play. A whale shark was spotted close to Phuket’s Nai Yang Beach Beach in April.
The species are denizens of the open seas and seeing one so close to land is quite rare. Divers on cruises from Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak or Koh Lanta to Andaman Sea dive sites and smaller offshore islands are more likely to see whale sharks.
12GO ASIA operates a ticket reservations service for buses and ferries to all the popular tourism destinations in the Andaman Sea region of southwest Thailand.
Whale shark plays hide and seek with fishing boat near Phuket
News in Asia
A video posted online purports to show a whale shark swimming around a fishing boat in the sea close to Phuket. The sighting of the rare species so near to the shores of Phuket is the second within the last two months.