This is the amazing moment a giant whale shark was captured looming beneath a boat full of unsuspecting tourists.
Most of us can barely catch a good snap of our dinner or a photo where a mate isn’t mid-blink, so imagine just how chuffed you’d feel if you managed to get a stunning shot of nature well and truly in action.
The amazing photos were taken earlier this week off the coast of Western Australia by 26-year-old Tom Cannon, who was born in England but moved Down Under when he was a teenager.
“I was born in Shoreham, England, and moved to Australia with my family when I was 13. I then moved to Melbourne and left to chase my dream three years ago,” he said.
“I live with my girlfriend in a bus we converted into a house in the tiny remote town of Coral Bay Western Australia.”
Tom explained that he knew the creature was nothing to be scared about, despite it being the largest fish on the planet.
“The animal in the picture is what is called a whale shark and is the largest fish on the planet.
“It spends most of its time living mysteriously at depths unreachable by humans but from March until July they can be seen of the back of the Ningaloo Reef In Coral Bay and Exmouth, Australia.
“The picture was taken about 6km off shore on the back of the Ningaloo Reef Coral Bay while on tour with Ningaloo Reef Dive and Snorkel.”
He continued: “I wasn’t scared, we swim with these guys quite a lot and people come from across the world to see them.
“They are a very docile fish and will often shy away from anything they feel threatened by.
“This particular shark was really curious and spent the entire 50 minutes on the surface with us chasing bubbles and checking everybody out.
“This was a rare experience to have such a curious playful shark. They usually swim in straight lines in search of food.
Tom is the co-founder of a underwater photography company, which he runs with his friend Sam Lawrence.
“That is one of the commercial boats that my company Ocean Collective Media take photos on board of,” Tom said.
“It charters tours to see whale sharks during the season and Manta Rays year round.
“The people on board were customers and staff members who were quite amazed to see the whale shark behaving this way.
“The creature isn’t dangerous. We are their biggest threat with the increasing pollution to our oceans they need our help.”
Right, we’ll just get back to taking blurry photos of shepherd’s pie and feeling inadequate…
