Rare sighting: Whale Shark seen near Visakhapatnam

On the morning of January 18, a scuba diver from Diver Adda and his two students found a whale shark in the waters of Chinna Rushikonda during their routine diving session.

An ex-naval officer, Bhadram Rasamsetty, also the founder of Diver Adda, stated that over the past few years, the spotting of stranded carcasses and dead bodies of sharks and whales has been reported several times; however, the sighting of a live celestial giant is the first in recent years.

Vysakh Sivarajan, a diving instructor at Diver Adda, was returning to shore with his two students from a routine diving session when they spotted the majestic giant in the Visakhapatnam waters. He also noted that the whale shark was about 100 meters from the coast and seemed unbothered by the divers’ presence. The divers observed the creature for about 5 minutes before it drifted into the deep ocean.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the whale shark is listed as an endangered species and is among the largest fish species in the world. This gentle giant measured approximately 10 meters in length and was following a school of fish.