animal.press / Zu 4000 Tierstorys / Zauber der Ozeane - Haie / 01908 Walhai Joyride

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#103519    Kein Model Release;
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AZORES, PORTUGAL - UNDATED: A whale shark opens its huge mouth as fish hitch a ride on its back in Azores, Portugal. AN ADVENTUROUS diver hitches a ride through the Atlantic Ocean - onboard the world's largest fish. German Martin Wilke latched on to the dorsal fin of the 10m-long whale shark as it cruised 12km off the coast of the Azores. The surreal moment was captured by Portuguese photographer Nuno Sa, who himself came face to face with the ocean giant. He said: "As I jumped into the water a fishing boat was just beside me starting to catch tuna. "When I put my head in the water I could see thousands of tuna speeding by and a 10m-long whale shark in the middle of them. "At first the action and speed seemed chaotic but as soon as a I free-dived to get close to the whale shark, the chaos gave way to silence and harmony. "This slow moving giant slowly turned and came straight at me and remained static observing me from less than two metres away." Mr Sa, also accompanied by marine-life specialist Paulo Reis, tracked the whale shark by following tuna fishermen. The fishermen in turn trail Corey's shearwaters - a type of diving bird - which trail the whale sharks and tuna for hours at a time. It is not clear what benefits the the whale shark and tuna get from each other. But it is thought the fast-moving tuna help trap small balls of bait fish while the whale shark provides them with protection.

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