Men spark outrage after 'surfing' on endangered whale shark

Wildlife harassment is never a laughing matterUnbelievable footage of individuals 'surfing' a whale shark. What a sad reflection on their attitude to wildlife when, instead of considering themselves fortunate to see this majestic creature in the wild, they choose to participate in a stupid stunt like this (wonder if they would have done this with a great white shark?). As whale sharks are protected - the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species lists the Whale Shark as vulnerable - these guys should be charged - come on FB community, please help bring these people to justice for their stupidity and arrogance treating a protected species in this way. Please share widely.
Posted by Marine Connection on Monday, 15 June 2015

A video of two men 'surfing' on the back of a whale shark has sparked outrage with calls for them to face legal action.

The video, posted on Facebook by a wildlife group, shows the men laughing as they hold onto a rope and are pulled by a moving boat.

They return to their boat and watch as the whale shark follows behind before one of the men enters the water and 'surfs' the animal again.

On its Facebook page, UK-based Marine Connection wrote: "Wildlife harassment is never a laughing matter

"Unbelievable footage of individuals 'surfing' a whale shark. What a sad reflection on their attitude to wildlife when, instead of considering themselves fortunate to see this majestic creature in the wild, they choose to participate in a stupid stunt like this (wonder if they would have done this with a great white shark?).

"As whale sharks are protected - the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species lists the Whale Shark as vulnerable - these guys should be charged - come on FB community, please help bring these people to justice for their stupidity and arrogance treating a protected species in this way. Please share widely."

It has not been confirmed where the video was filmed but when asked by one social media user, Marine Connection wrote: "Probably Venezuela. The footage was posted by someone there about a week ago. Shortly after it was shown to us, the fb account was deactivated, but commenters here have said they're speaking Venezuelan Spanish."

Whale sharks are found in tropical and warm oceans, and are known as gentle giants of the sea as they do not pose a significant danger to humans.