Tuna-Fishing Teen Spots Giant Whale Shark Off North Carolina: 'Once-in-a-Lifetime'

Tuna-fishing teen spots giant whale shark off North Carolina: 'Once-in-a-lifetime'

An 18-year-old tuna fisherman off North Carolina just had the kind of ocean encounter most people only see in documentaries. On a Sunday trip with his father, Charles Gaddy realized the huge, white-spotted fish moving alongside their boat was a whale shark. What happened? More than 40 miles off Oregon Inlet, Gaddy spotted what he later described as "this big gray fish with white dots," WRAL News reported. "Just from reading books and watching mo…

Climate Change May Be Sending Whale Sharks to NC Waters

The post Climate Change May Be Sending Whale Sharks to NC Waters appeared first on A-Z Animals.A fishing trip turned into an encounter of a lifetime when a rare whale shark was spotted off the coast of North Carolina recently. Because this is not where whale sharks are typically seen, it could be a sign of changes beneath the ocean’s surface. Rare Whale Shark Observed Off the North Carolina Coast On Sunday, June 14, 2026, Charles Gaddy and his f…