Richard Branson enjoyed swimming with sharks in Cancun

Even though many travellers would settle for swimming with dolphins on their holidays, this would not suffice adventurous Sir Richard Branson, who not only revealed he swam with much larger sea creatures, but also admitted being swallowed by a whale shark during a recent holiday trip in Cancun. The founder of the Virgin Group preferred to take a walk on the wild side (or a swim in this case), by swimming with sharks in Cancun.

Branson just posted on his Virgin blog that he had recently taken scuba diving holidays in Cancun, and swam with 300 whale sharks while at it. He told the newspaper “The Telegraph” about what could have been a life-threatening encounter: “I was swimming around one of these gentle giants off Cancun in Mexico – and then, suddenly, I realised I had managed to get myself right inside it.”

Some were worried this incident could have been provoked by a flaw in his recent laser eye surgery, although after the operation, Branson had stated that he was seeing “perfectly” again. However, Branson says it could have simply been his mistake because of the remarkable size of the whale sharks. “Whale sharks have got enormous mouths,” he said, “and this one just literally puffed me out.”

Whale sharks have been classified as the biggest fish in the sea by National Geographic, and they can grow to over 40 feet in length. While the idea of swimming with sharks may seem outrageous to most people, whale sharks (despite their great size) are gentle creatures, who may even allow swimmers to “hitch a ride”

The purpose of Richard Branson’s scuba diving adventure was not merely to spend leisure time with the sharks, but to raise awareness of “the slaughter of these beautiful creatures due shark fin soup.”

These animals suffer hunting to make traditional Asian cuisine dishes, as Sir Richard Branson explains himself: “Believe it or not, there are still people in China and Japan who cut the fins off these beautiful, beautiful creatures for shark fin soup and throw the rest of the whale shark back into the water to die. It’s too sad for words.”

Whale sharks are currently listed as vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Nevertheless, when Californians debated a shark fin ban on 2011, the Associated Press reported that some critics of the ban felt it was “an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine,” although the supporters of this ban estimated that 73 million sharks were slaughtered per year.
Sir Richard Branson felt even more strongly about improving sharks’ situation after his remarkable scuba diving experience. He wishes to capture people’s attention on this pressing matter and suggests visiting WildAid to people who are interested in learning more about saving sharks.

Fighting for the welfare of these endangered creatures is not the only interest of Sir Richard at this time. He is anxious for his daughter Holly to present him with a grandchild. Although Holly marries her boyfriend Freddie Andrews in December, Branson teases:”Why wait for the wedding?”