PORT ARANSAS, Texas — The world's largest fish known to man is putting a spotlight on Port Aransas on social media.
Corpus Christi local, Alexus Broome posted a video on her TikTok of her experience seeing a whale shark in the waters of the Coastal Bend.Since the video was posted on Sunday, it has garnered more than 175,000 views, over 11,000 likes, and more than 100 comments.
The unique sight came after normal day cruising in the gulf for Broome and Addison Smith, of Gulf Magic Charters. The two say they were hoping to catch bait ahead of a charter scheduled for the next day. They believe they were about six miles off of the coast of Port Aransas near an oil rig when they saw the gentle giant.
"We had seen this black shadow just come up almost to the surface of the water and he (Smith) just started yelling, whale shark! whale shark!" Broome described.
"Kinda looked like a bus down there, swimming around with spots on it," Smith added.
There is a wide variety of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, with more than 50 species of sharks. KRIS 6 News spoke with Matt Streich about the area's aquatic creatures. He's the assistant director of the Center for Sport Fish Science for Conservation at Hart Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Streich listed examples of shark species that could be commonly found in the gulf, which include, bull sharks, black tip sharks, scalloped hammerheads, and lemon sharks. He said whale sharks also reside in the gulf year-round. However, it's not every day a land lover sees the endangered species.
Broome exclaimed, "Oh gosh! I'm incredibly blessed to see something so beautiful and massive like that swimming through the water around us. It's an experience I never thought I'd ever get to see."
"I've been coming down to Corpus and Port A since I was born pretty much," said Smith, who currently resides in Dallas. "I've never seen one before and I've always been wanting to see one forever. I know people that have been out here for 50 years and they never see one. So it was pretty cool to get a chance to see one."
"Typically, whale sharks are found when there's an abundance of their prey," said Streich.
Streich also mentioned other unique creatures people have spotted in the gulf, including manatees.
"The ecosystem of the coast of Texas is constantly changing and currents change and there's milder winters with climate change, so all of those things could change what people see out there," he explained.
According to Streich, present marine life is a positive indicator of the health of an ecosystem. Meanwhile, scientists and environmentalists are constantly gathering information to continue learning about life underwater.
