Whale shark swims up to fishing boat to ask for food in Indonesia

This is the amazing moment a hungry whale shark swam near a fishing boat to ask for food in Indonesia.

Footage shows the endangered marine mammal enjoying the fish being thrown to it by kind fishermen in Bontang, East Kalimantan province on May 9.

The fishing boat had just docked at the pier where the crew were busy carrying tubs of their fresh catch to a nearby market when the animal appeared.

As it appeared to be following the tubs with the fish, one of the workers threw some of their catch into its direction which the whale gladly ate.

Fisherman Iswandi Rahman said the whale was friendly so they gave it some food after smelling it seemed to be attracted by the blood from the fish.

He said: ‘The whale was not aggressive at all.

We thought we should give it some of our catch because we had extra.

I think he smelled the blood from the fish we caught.’ Despite its size, the whale shark does not pose any danger to humans.

They are docile and sometimes allow swimmers to catch a ride although the practice is discouraged by conservationists as it disturbs the species.

Whale sharks are classed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species due to the impacts of fisheries, by-catch losses, and vessel strikes.