Whale shark tangled in fishing net rescued in Thailand

A whale shark tangled in a fishing net was rescued by kind tourists in Thailand.

Footage shows the endangered marine mammal swimming near a boat so the tourists could remove the mesh stuck around its body in Chonburi province on May 12.

A Malaysian tourist who was then fishing while island hopping around the Gulf of Thailand noticed the creature lurking around them as if it was asking for help.

He then took a pole with hook to pull the net before using a knife to cut it up as it had been restricting the animal’s movement in the water.

One of the tour guides onboard the boat, Dom Sirichat, said: ‘The whale shark was happy after the net was removed.

It swam around us for a few minutes before heading to a different direction.’ The worker added that the helpless animal seemed hurt by the trash that was tightened up around its body but the brave tourist helped without thinking twice.

He said: ‘The fishing net wrapping around its body seemed to hurt it.

The tourist reacted quickly and lured the animal before cutting the trash away.

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.