DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A video posted in by the Crown Prince of Dubai in his Instagram account swimming with whale sharks has gone viral.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, is a known animal lover and he has posted many videos of his interaction with different creatures.

His latest video post is that of him swimming with whale sharks. In less than 30 minutes after posting, the one-minute video was watched by more than 50,000 people. After 19 hours the post has been seen by over 290,000.

“Swimming with these giant sharks is truly a breathtaking experience, one that is difficult to put into words,” Sheikh Hamdan said in the Instagram post.

Whale sharks can grow up to 40 feet in length and has an average life expectancy of 70 years. They have about 300 rows of tiny teeth but they are filter feeders—gulping in water to filter out plankton or nutrients.

In the video, Shaikh Hamdan is seen swimming beside two grown up whale sharks, carrying an action camera to document his encounter with them. He swam near the underbelly as well as near the pectoral fin of the creature.

“The more we swim with these creatures, the more we understand, respect and appreciate them,” Sheikh Hamdan added.

Whale sharks are normally found in open oceans, far from shallow shorelines, and encounter with divers and snorkelers is a rare occurrence. WAM

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