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INCREDIBLE footage captured by an Irish kayaker whilst he was fishing, shows a huge basking shark with its mouth gaping open and swimming alongside him.
Graham Smith seized the opportunity to film this rare occurrence when he was situated near Tullagh Bay, off Inishowen on July 18.
He documented this chilling encounter on Youtube and said, “he shot under the kayak and was no more than three feet away from me.”
Now back on dry land he joked, “Just a bit too close, nearly needed a clean pair of trousers after this one.”
Of the sharks close proximity to the kayak Smith said, “What an amazing experience a basking shark made 3 attempts to swim with my kayak and I only realised what he was at on his 3rd attempt, he was so close and seemed to like being beside the kayak.
“I realised he is trying to feed in my slipstream, at the back of my kayak.
“At first I thought it was an act of aggression, but when I went to leave him alone - he followed me for at least ten minutes feeding. It was amazing!
“He was following me, I wasn’t chasing him and he seemed to be having a great feed.”
