Whale Shark! Ride of a Life!

Kreis hops aboard Whale Shark

What Happened.....
The incredible encounter happened last Saturday 30 miles off the Captiva's coast, where the 19-year-old ran into the boat-sized fish. Kreis jumped on the shark's back, grabbed hold of its fin and rode it for about 20 seconds. He later posted a video of his adventure on YouTube.
‘When I started holding on I felt the whale shark it started moving itself, it felt the drag and it didn't really want me on there so I let go and that's it,’ Kreis boasted on Facebook last week that his encounter with the critter was an 'unbelievable experience.'
 
 Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea reaching lengths of 40 feet or more. Despite their fierce name and appearance, they mostly feed on plankton and small fish.  Marine biologist Bruce Neill told the station that the docile fish could have been injured as a result of the ride. ‘When people spend a lot of time and pressure on a fish it takes away a slime that covers the fish. They need that layer to stay healthy,’ Neill said.  When interviewed about it by NBC later, the 19-year-old confessed that he had no idea that his actions could be harmful to the animal’s health.  ‘I would jump in if I saw one again, but next time I wouldn't touch the fish,’ Kreis promised. 

So What..... 
Take away the the spectacular fact of the encounter.  What you have is the attraction of a person to something infinitely bigger than he is.  Would the guy have jumped in to swim with mullets, a dolphin, maybe a sea turtle?  

How do you say this?  People have a response to the transcendent, to that which upholds us in existence.  John Donne reminds us that we are part of the bigger continent and that we need a place from which to see it.  So, Kreis found it in a Whale Shark alright! Most of the time, we may feel like a needle in the haystack of the world. Not so from the back of a Whale Shark.  Once seen, we want to be a part of it.