KAYAKERS EXPLORING the waters of County Kerry yesterday had a much more exciting trip than they intended when they were approached by a basking shark.
As Ireland bathed under warm sunshine yesterday, a group of kayakers took to Ventry Bay on the Dingle Peninsula to make the most of the good weather and calm waters.
But what started as a relaxing trip turned slightly chaotic as the group noticed an enormous basking shark swimming towards them, curious about the visitors to the bay.
While completely harmless to humans, eating only plankton, basking sharks can grow up to 8 metres in length and would easily give you a bit of a fright-- as the Kerry kayakers learned.
The moment was captured on video, with hilarious commentary from one flabbergasted woman as the shark circled the kayakers before swimming directly towards her and under the boat.
"Oh Jesus," she gasps.
"Oh my God. Jesus!"
"It's under me! Oh my- Oh my God. Jesus!
"It's huge! It's f**king huge! Jesus Christ! F**k sake!"
The fascinating video-- and hilarious commentary, which sounds absolutely bizarre out of context-- was posted to Youtube before being shared on Reddit by one of the kayakers present, though not the woman narrating.
User u/drive_on_boy_will_ya posted to Reddit Ireland writing "Spotted a basking shark while out kayaking today", and the online community were quick to comment on the woman's shocked narration.
"The commentary is top notch," u/CubicDice said, while another described her as "the Irish David Attenborough".
u/BlueBloodLive said "I know they're harmless and all but I'd probably have a similar reaction ... Just the sheer size of it and being in open water would have me bricking it haha.
"Still though, what an experience to get and have it on video as well!"
Fungie might have left the waters of Dingle, but this basking shark could become Kerry's newest aquatic celebrity--he's certainly making waves already.
You can check out the video on Reddit here.
