A video posted Wednesday on Youtube shows Florida teen Chris Kreis, 19, .
The video was taken in the Gulf of Mexico last week, some thirty miles off the Florida coast. In it, Kreis manages to grasp the animal鈥檚 fin and ride for 20 seconds. Kreis described his adventure thusly: 鈥淲hen I started holding on, I felt the whale shark. It started moving itself, it felt the drag and it didn’t really want me on there so I let go and that’s it.鈥
While riding a whale shark is not prohibited by law, some are understandably upset by Kreis鈥檚 display and believe the fish could have been injured. 鈥淲hen people spend a lot of time and pressure on a fish it takes away a slime that covers the fish,鈥 said marine biologist Bruce Neill. 鈥淭hey need that layer to stay healthy.鈥