It was a Fourth of July surprise for a family out fishing in the waters off Ocean City.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that a whale shark was spotted by a Hebron man who donned a snorkel mask and reached it with great effort.
Whale sharks are docile filter-feeders that can grow to as large as 20 tons with a potential length of 32 feet.
Capt. Rob Skillman, with Moorebills Sport Fishing says he has seen a number of the creatures off the Mexican coast lines but never as largest as this one.
This is the second such sighting.
Steve Moore from West Ocean City spotted a whale shark on June 27th around 68 miles off the coast.
