The Dubai Marina whale shark nearly broke the internet over the weekend: here are five other whale shark encounters caught on video across the UAE. 


The whale shark that popped by Dubai Marina on Thursday became quite the overnight celebrity (we just hope he/she managed to swim back out into the wide ocean easily).

whale shark

The now-majorly-A-list Dubai Marina whale shark. Photo: Facebook. 

But the Arabian Gulf is thought to be a breeding area for the largest fish in the world, and so this isn’t the first time one of the beautiful creatures has been spotted in the UAE (far from it).

Here are five other whale shark encounters caught on camera around the emirates…

1. WHALE SHARK IN DIBBA

This beautiful, serene video of a whale shark floating through Dibba while fish dance around it was captured a few months ago by an instructor at Fantasy Diving UAE.

2. BABY WHALE SHARK 

Uploaded a few years ago, this video shows a baby whale shark swimming through Dubai Marina, It was spotted by dragon boaters post practice (showing that the marina is a favourite spot for the beautiful – and, remember, harmless) animal.

3. CLOSE UP OF A WHALE SHARK IN THE MARINA 

Again in the Marina, this video from July 2013 gives you a fantastic view of the whale shark’s beautiful spots as it casually swims up and then gives us a sassy flick of the tail (the markings near the gill are individual to each shark – kind of like a thumbprint).

4. DIVERS POSE WITH THE WHALE SHARK 

This video from 2009 of divers swimming around a whale shark near Martini Rock in Fujairah show how calm – and huge – the creatures are.

5. THE CAPITAL SHARK 

There are also plenty of videos floating around of whale sharks in Abu Dhabi – particularly Ghantoot Marina. Here’s one of the clearest, which was uploaded about four and a half years ago.

6. THE MECHANICAL SHARK

And, of course, this being Dubai, you can also spy a super hi-tech bot-shark in the ocean. So yes, if you see Jaws jumping around in the sea, don’t fear, it’s probably The Seabreacher.

Read more about it here.