Rare whale shark seen off Coromandel: Encounter like seeing a UFO, swimmers say

A trip off the coast of Coromandel for a group of boaties took an incredible turn when a beast “the size of the boat” surfaced from the depths.

“It was like seeing a UFO,” Scott Mitchell said of the moment he saw a whale shark under the vessel.

“I was looking at it just going, ‘Am I really seeing that? Is that for real?’”

Mitchell and six others were returning from the Alderman Islands, where they had gone to see manta rays, when they spotted the “super rare” animal and decided to jump in and swim with it.

“We were just cruising along, we weren’t going super fast, maybe 10 knots, just keeping an eye out for more manta rays. And just as we were driving along there was this huge shape right next to the boat,” he said.

“I thought it looked like a shark, and it was, but not what I was thinking. So we stopped and turned around.

“We were all pretty blown away. So, yeah, we put on our snorkels and jumped in and had a swim with it.”

The 5m whale shark seemed oblivious to his presence.

“It was very relaxed. You know, other fish, if you get in the water with other fish, they are very aware of you and they keep your distance. But this shark just didn’t care. We were swimming right next to it and picking it out from only a few feet away.

“But I suppose when you’re five metres long, nothing in the ocean really fazes you.

“Twenty-odd years ago, I did a diploma in marine studies. I know whale sharks are a little bit mysterious, like no one really knows a great deal about them, where they breed or their life cycle.”

Mitchell said they swam with the animal for almost an hour and credited the experience on a “pure fluke”.

“You know, if it had been another 10m to the left or right [of our boat] we wouldn’t have even seen it.”

Caitie Mora, who was onboard with Mitchell, described the encounter as “epic”.

“It was just insane. I’ve worked on the ocean here for eight years now and whale sharks are just unheard of.

“You’ve usually got to go over to Western Australia or Indonesia to see them. So when [everyone else on the boat] said it was a whale shark it was a dream come true.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.