30-foot Whale Shark Found Dead In Ocean Off Boca Raton Inlet

June 10, 2007

Release from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Divers with the South Florida Dive Headquarters discovered a dead, 30-foot whale shark, considered the biggest fish in the world, about a half-mile from the Boca Raton Inlet Sunday.

The 31 divers made the discovery at about 10 a.m., just after diving at the Sea Emperor wreckage.

A fisherman told them that he had witnessed a dead or dying whale about 200 yards away. When the divers arrived at the site, they found the brown-and-white fish head down in about 62 feet of water, according to Jeff Torode, captain of a boat owned by the Pompano Beach diving company.

Joe Marino, a diver and photographer, jumped into the water and took photos, while scuba trainer Terry Coburn examined the fish for injuries. "There weren't any signs of it being hurt," Coburn said. But the divers want to know how the fish died, and are contacting authorities for help. "It would have been nicer if he was alive," Torode said of the fish. "It would have been an incredible find."