Teen shares video of himself riding a whale shark
Two teens have hit the headlines after posting a video of one of them riding a whale shark off the coast of Florida.
Cody Garland can be seen clinging onto the animal for around 20 seconds in the clip, and poses for a pic in the process.
According to ABC7 News, his girlfriend also tweeted that she swam with the shark:
ME AND @lil_garlandd JUST SWAM WITH A WHALE SHARK
- mickayla burke (@MickaylllaB) May 8, 2015
That was an adrenaline rush for sure pic.twitter.com/qEhjNe5mgT
- mickayla burke (@MickaylllaB) May 8, 2015
According to the Huffington Post, Cody told local news station WEAR: "I like whale sharks. I don't think they could hurt you if they wanted to. We just didn't stand near his mouth."
But experts have warned against copying the idea for the sake of the animals. When a different video of a teen riding a whale shark went viral, marine biologist Bruce Neill told ABC News: "When people spend a lot of time and a lot of pressure on a fish, it takes away that slime covering and potentially has negative health impacts for the fish."
The whale shark is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest known extant fish species.
The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65m (41.50ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 metric tons (47,000lb), and unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks exist.
Claims of individuals over 14m (46 t) long and weighing at least 30 metric tons (66,000 lb) are not uncommon.
They are currently listed as vulnerable due to overexploitation, and are among 25 protected shark species in Florida.
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