Whale Shark
On this expedition, the scientists took 21 dives into the deep sea, totaling more than 182 hours of exploration on the seafloor. One of the most exciting parts of those dives was using SuBastian to capture the first-ever footage of a whale shark.
The whale shark is a rare, deep-water species of fish that’s been around for millions of years. It got its name because of its length—the creatures can measure more than 40 feet (12.2 meters) long.
While people can swim with them, the fish are under threat. Their population in the Indian and Pacific Oceans has shrunk 63% over the past 75 years, due to overfishing and getting entangled in fishing gear. Whale sharks are considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, so seeing one swimming along in the wild is a true treat.
