Rare whale shark visit off Sarasota coast reveals this kindler, gentler shark is in local waters more often than one thinks

Whale sharks just aren’t something you see every day, even in the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico in our area. But that doesn’t mean it never happens. In fact, it happened to some boaters approximately 26 miles off the coast of Sarasota County not too long ago, on July 3.  A video on TikTok surfaced with the encounter, taken by a charter captain named Michael Russo with the alias “Boca Grande Tarpon.” It was captioned “One of the coolest encounters I have ever had out of Sarasota. I think that sharks just follow me.”