Close encounter with a whale shark

I was fascinated by the idea of scuba diving when I was very young. It seemed like the closest thing to having the ability to fly.  I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

At the age of twelve, my father let me take the classes needed to be certified as an open water diver. On top of that, I was certified for night diving.

And before I could get to my first open water dive - the movie Jaws came out.

I did one fresh water, river dive in Texas and never went diving again. To this day I'll only walk calf-deep in the surf at the beach. I won't go swimming in the ocean.

So imagine my reaction to this clip of divers who come across a whale shark on a dive. And then on top of it, note the guy at the 1:27 mark who literally makes contact with Mr. Jaws.

Oh. My. Hell.

But fascinating video to watch from the safety of my office :)

(via Towleroad)