Pilot spots massive whale shark off Southern California coast

Commercial-fishing pilot Carl Sbarounis was airborne over the Pacific when a friend called about an unusual visitor: a whale shark cruising near the coast. He flew over the area for roughly fifteen minutes, recording the 14- to 16-foot shark about thirty miles out between Malibu and Santa Barbara Island. Sbarounis, who has spent over four decades spotting fish for fisheries, also observed groups of manta-type rays, including spinetail devil rays, on the same day.

Scientists linked the appearance to this year’s intense El Niño and a lingering marine heatwave that are warming Southern California waters. They explained that whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, feed on plankton and typically head farther south as temperatures drop in winter. Sbarounis said he fishes about 120 days a year from the Mexico border to Point Conception, often far offshore.