Scuba Diver Wins ‘Lottery’ Coming Face-To-Face With Rare Ocean Creature

A scuba diver has shared the amazing sight he witnessed deep in the sea, describing it as something he will remember for “the rest of my days.”
Ivan, 25, from Serbia, was scuba diving in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt when he spotted a majestic whale shark swimming close to him.
“We were coming back from a scuba trip and saw fish breaching the water,” he told Newsweek. “The captain knew something was going on and he told us about the possibility of a whale shark.
“I got my mask and snorkel and jumped in the water. I started recording and I put my head down and saw it swimming towards me.”
In addition to photos he posted on Reddit, Ivan shared the video he took with Newsweek. “It went straight beneath me, like 1.5 meters under me, and swam away,” he said.
“It’s a lot faster than I expected. This is once in a lifetime experience and it’s even cooler that it was unexpected.”
In the video, the creature is seen moving towards Ivan just under the surface of the water before turning to swim down and away from him. The shark swooshes its tale as it moves through the water, with other divers seen swimming near it to catch a glimpse.
Ivan told Newsweek that he feels like he won the “diver’s lottery” with his sighting, a memory that he says he will cherish for life.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, whale sharks are the largest of any fish alive today. They are found in tropical waters of the world and are easily identifiable by the unique white spots on their body.
The photos in the Reddit post seemed to wow other social media users. “They are such magnificent animals,” said u/s-s-siren.
u/Sobsis said: “Random whale shark is a once in a few lifetime experience. Hope you at least said hello and gave it a little wave.”
“I also just wanted to say how amazing it is that we have the privilege of sharing this planet with creatures [whose] evolutionary physical expressions look like the night sky. [It] reminds me how intimately connected everything is. We come from the stars,” said u/LunarLillyBloom.
“That’s a bucket list item for me, I’m so jealous,” u/Tyrannical_Requiem.
“That’s awesome, swimming next to one of these is surreal,” u/Brickwater shared.
“Whale sharks are on the top of my bucket list to dive with,” said u/fullsends.
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