Diver nearly swallowed by whale shark

This diver almost got sucked into the mouth of a massive whale shark while it fed on thousands of plankton. The shark, the seas largest fish, is actually incredibly docile. The relieved diver escaped from the encounter unscathed and continued to enjoy the presence of the extraordinary animals. The photograph was taken during a feeding frenzy where more than 600 of the 40ft animals gathered to feed on tuna spawn. Mr Handler travelled to Isla Mujeres, in Mexico, and used high-tech equipment to capture the incredible moments underwater. Whale sharks have mouths up to 1.5 metres wide that contain up to 350 rows of teeth. Despite their size, they do not pose a risk to divers. Each year they converge in water off Mexico where they filter feed by sieving plankton from the water. They swim with their huge mouth open sucking masses of water filled with spawn into its jaws. Mr Handler, a 49 year old father of two, said: 'The picture of the diver staring into the gaping jaws of the shark was an incredible adrenaline rush. I led an expedition of photographers and when youre down there with the fish it is like another world. On our last day I was taking a photograph of a whale and it ended up swimming at my photographer friend. If he had have been sucked into the massive mouth the shark would have just spat him out. The sharks return here each year to feed on the tuna who spawn billions of eggs. This year there were about 600 and it was amazing to see. ' Mr Handler, from Maine, in the US, added: I feel as if it is my job to show people what they have never seen before. MO