Shocking video shows man riding the back of a whale shark

The shocking event took place in the Red Sea, near Yanbu city in Saudi Arabia and promptly went viral in the area.

The footage shows a man on a boat getting up close and personal with a pod of endangered whale sharks. One of the big beautiful creatures starts to swim under the boat which is where our perpetrator gets the genius idea to ride the whale off into the sunset.

The video shows the man jumping off the boat and clinging onto the whale shark's dorsal fin. The fish which is incredibly rare in the red see swam off with the daredevil still attached.

Other men from the boat can be heard cheering on the guy while another shouts out a warning saying 'careful, it can swallow you'.

The man's feat had audiences torn as some were impressed with the rare encounter while others were up in arms about what could be construed as a case of animal abuse.

One commenter wrote claiming that he 'wanted to try' the stun himself while another commented saying 'A brave man, God saves him'.

While others were furious at the lack of respect for the species. One person stated:

I hope they will be arrested and held accountable for their reckless behaviour

Another added:

I fully agree, they must be held accountable. One day you get an idiot standing on the back of a turtle while it's laying its eggs, then the next day you get this guy standing on a whale passing peacefully by and terrifying it. They are destroying nature.

An endangered species

The whale shark is a slow-moving, filter-feeding species of carpet shark and is known to be the biggest fish species in the world. The enormous animal can reach up to 20 metres long and as a plankton feeder whale sharks are important to the ocean environment.

Unfortunately, due to fishing and boating practises, poaching, and global warming the whale shark is now endangered.

To see the man's stunt for yourself watch the video above!