(W. OCEAN CITY, MD.) - What would you do if you saw a shark in the ocean?
"There was no other option, like we had to get in with it," says Adam Tilghman.
Josh Schleupner and Adam Tilghman, daring father and son duo, jump into the water to swim with a whale shark spotted off the coast of Ocean City.
"Something that I always thought would be cool but never, you know never in 100 years did I think I'd ever have the opportunity," says Schleupner.
Whale sharks are the largest living sea animal. Schleupner estimates this shark was about 40 feet long. He was able to touch the whale shark and says it didn't try to swim away.
Schleupner and Tilghman were fishing with friends Rob Skillman, Brian Beehe, Scott Lenox and Dave Messick when the whale shark was spotted. Messick and Lenox are from the television show Hooked on OC. They were in the process of filming an episode and were able to record the experience.
"I'm glad they did it because I really don't want to jump overboard," says Messick.
Scott Lenox says that other types of sharks swim in the same water. "A little ways after we left we saw a hammerhead shark swimming on the surface," Lenox says.
Whale sharks aren't as dangerous as other sharks, like hammerheads. "They [whale sharks] eat plankton and things like that," says Tilghman.
Whale sharks can hit people with their tails, so if you're near one you should still be careful.
Whale shark footage courtesy of Hooked on OC and Unseen Productions.