30-foot whale shark spotted off Virginia Beach coast

A rare sight off the Virginia Beach Coast, an estimated 30 foot whale shark swam alongside a fishing boat about 18 miles offshore. Lauren Haley Morris spoke with the boat captain today about this exceedingly rare sight. And Lauren, what did you learn? Well, Madison, it's definitely not your average boat tour. This rare will shark sighting is especially different for a few reasons. First, scientists say they require warm tropical waters, typically around 71 degrees Fahrenheit. And while Virginia Beach does have water temperatures at or above that range in the summer, it's rare to see a whale shark so close to the shore. So I caught up with the captain who led that special boat tour, and he says it was a sight to see. Take a look. With seven years of fishing and boat tours in Virginia Beach, I've always loved the water. Captain Charlie thought he'd seen it all until last week. I run a lot of these trips, and, you know, this doesn't happen on a weekly flounder fishing trip. He had this just 18 miles offshore. We were on the way back in, and I saw the dorsal and the tail fin from a distance, and it was it was pretty calm. So I just thought it was like a basking shark or something like that. But we kind of pull pulled alongside it, like with some safe distance. Of course, it swam past, and then that's when we saw that it was a whale shark. The estimated 30 ft whale shark was quite unexpected. Captain Charlie says it's typical to see larger species on longer trips, some of those trips being 17 hours. That's when you see some of these pelagics, um, more of like the offshore species of dolphins, whales, things like that. It's uncommon to see a whale shark, though, at any distance, making this friendly appearance special for the captain and his guests. 34 people on the boat. I couldn't really believe that it was a whale shark. It was really cool to see. Don't see them around here, and you especially don't see them, you know, 18 miles. Very cool. Now, Captain Charlie says these whale sharks are gentle giants and caused no harm to the boat. It was simply just an incredible sight to see. He says he hopes to see more unusual fish in the future. So, Madison, are you up for it? Yeah, absolutely. To be one of those 34 people on that boat to have seen that just a wild excursion. Good story there, Lauren. We appreciate