Keelung offshore squid fishing trip: 8-meter-long "wild whale shark" circles the boat for an hour

▲ Footage of the whale shark appearing. (Video source: YouTube)

Reported by You T-Ru / Taipei

Passengers on a squid fishing boat off the coast of Keelung encountered a wild whale shark swimming right by their vessel. With Taiwan recently entering squid fishing season, a squid fishing boat set out to sea last night (23rd). The boat’s side lights attracted small fish, and an enormous whale shark around 8 meters long swam by, causing a stir among the passengers on board. Captain Yu said, “This is only the second time I’ve seen a whale shark in 20 years — it was truly exciting.”


▲ The whale shark appears next to the squid fishing boat. (Photo source: YouTube)

The whale shark swept past the side of the squid fishing boat, almost like a scene from the movie Life of Pi come to life. Captain Yu, who has over 20 years of experience running deep-sea fishing operations aboard the Jia Shun fishing vessel, said this is the second time in two decades that he’s seen a whale shark appear near the coast of Taiwan — and this time, it came incredibly close to the boat. The whale shark circled the vessel for about an hour. “The boat lights attract small fish, which in turn draw the shark closer,” Captain Yu explained. He added that the huge whale shark swam around the boat multiple times, nearly getting caught in the fishing nets. The appearance of the massive creature thrilled all the passengers on board.