Whale shark greets anglers in extremely rare SoCal encounter

For a group of Southern California fishermen on Sunday, the extremely rare sighting of a 15-foot whale shark more than made up for the lack of tuna.

“Coolest sighting, hands down,” Joey Engel, whose image accompanies this post, told For The Win Outdoors.

Engel, a deckhand for Dana Wharf Sportfishing, ventured offshore with friends in what would be a fruitless search for bluefin tuna. But the appearance of a whale shark, 35 miles southwest of Dana Point, broke the monotony of trolling.

Whale shark spotted by anglers Sunday at the 181 spot. Photo: Joey Engel

Engel said the gentle giant hung out for about eight minutes and “did one circle before he left.”

Whale sharks, which feed on plankton, are the world’s largest fish and can measure 30-plus feet. They inhabit tropical and warm-temperate waters and are sometimes encountered off southern Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez. But only a handful of sightings have been documented off Southern California – all in late summer during the past six years.

RELATED: Monster bluefin tuna leaves angles exhausted, captain injured

Engel said the water temperature at the 181 fathom spot, where they were fishing, was 72 degrees.

Whale shark encountered near Catalina in 2015. Photo: Triton Sportfishing

After the sighting of a 25-foot whale shark near Catalina on Sept. 15 2015 – five years to the day before Sunday’s sighting – Southern California-based shark expert Chris Lowe stated:

“I’d say that is very rare for our neck of the woods. I have heard accounts of occasional manta, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and wayward tiger sharks, but whale sharks are pretty rare this far north.”