Whale shark spotted near Vizag coast in rare encounter

Visakhapatnam: In a rare marine encounter, Dive Adda scuba divers on Jan 18 (Sunday) discovered a whale shark near Chinna Rushikonda, which became one of the most amazing underwater encounters ever documented along the Visakhapatnam shoreline. The group of experienced scuba diving instructors, who brought 2 students back from their regular dive in the Bay of Bengal, witnessed the sighting. The divers (Bhadram Rasamsetty, Vyshak, Bobas Baby and Vyshnav) experienced an extraordinary encounter when they discovered a whale shark, which stands as the largest fish species in the world.The whale shark, which measured about 10 metres in length, followed fish schools from a distance of 100 metres between the shoreline and the water, and at a depth of around 4 metres. The huge endangered marine animal showed no signs of disturbance from the divers. This let them watch it for 5 minutes at a safe distance before it moved into the deep ocean.According to Bhadram Rasamsetty, who serves as the founder of Dive Adda and previously worked as a naval officer, scuba divers finally got their first opportunity to observe a whale shark at close range near Visakhapatnam. The scuba instructor Vysakh Sivarajan, who joined the dive team, described his experience as both magical and deeply respectful.The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified whale sharks as endangered species on their Red List because these gentle giants maintain very low numbers in this area. The Vizag coastline saw whale sharks get stuck on shore, but people rarely encounter these creatures during their natural oceanic swimming.The discovery of these marine creatures shows that Vizag's coastal waters contain diverse ecosystems which need immediate protection through marine conservation programmes.Bhadram Rasamsetty served as a naval officer for 15 years and started Dive Adda around 2 years ago in Vizag. He wanted to build an educational institution for scuba diving training. While dead sharks washed ashore along the Visakhapatnam coast on a few occasions in the past, this was the first time that a live shark was spotted about 100 metres from the coast and at a depth of around 4 metres, and above all, the whale shark is friendly, he added.Head of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Regional Centre, Joe K Kizhakudan, said that when water is clear, whale sharks come closer to the coast sometimes.