Biggest-ever, 7-meter-long whale shark spotted

KRABI, Oct 13 (TNA) – A whale shark about 7 meters long was seen swimming near the Phi Phi islands. Tourists were exited with the sighting because it was the biggest whale shark ever seen there. A diving instructor said that he brought a group of foreign tourists to dive in Palong Bay which was a beautiful dive site of the Phi Phi islands and they saw the big whale shark there. The whale shark was feeding pleasantly and did not pay attention to the divers’ group. It showed up for about 10 minutes before diving into deep sea. Whale sharks were spotted around the Phi Phi islands on several occasions in the past week as it is a seasonal transition when there are plenty of plankton and small fish that also indicate the good marine resources of the islands. Meanwhile, officials of the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park took photos of schools of blacktip sharks feeding in very shallow water near Mai Phai and Porda islands. The sharks are longer than 1 meter and there were more than 10 sharks in each school. The sharks usually appear in the early morning even where seawater is only 30 centimeters deep. Their population is growing thanks to conservation measures in the marine national park. (TNA)