What lurks beneath... Huge whale shark appears to dwarf boat floating above it off the Australian coast

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A boat-full of unsuspecting tourists got more than they bargained for when a huge whale shark was spotted lurking beneath their whale watching vessel. 

The enormous whale shark - the world's largest species of fish - dwarfs the boat as it floats just below the surface in the crystal clear water of Ningaloo Reef about 6km off the coast of Western Australia.

The extraordinary image was taken by Tom Cannon, 26, earlier this week and captured the gaping abyss of the whale shark's giant mouth.

An enormous whale shark dwarfs the boat as it floats just below the surface in the crystal clear water of Ningaloo Reef about 6km off the coast of Western Australia

'It spends most of its time living mysteriously at depths unreachable by humans but from March until July they can be seen off the back of Ningaloo Reef in Coral Bay and Exmouth,' he said. 

'I wasn't scared, we swim with these guys quite a lot and people come from across the world to see them. They are a very docile fish and will often shy away from anything they feel threatened by.

'This particular shark was really curious and spent the entire 50 minutes on the surface with us chasing bubbles and checking everybody out.

'This was a rare experience to have such a curious playful shark. They usually swim in straight lines in search of food. The people on board were quite amazed to see the whale shark behaving this way.

The boat-full of unsuspecting tourists got more than they bargained for when the huge animal was spotted lurking beneath their whale watching vessel

The photographer said the curious shark delighted watchers for about 50 minutes on the surface chasing bubbles

'The creature isn't dangerous. We are their biggest threat with the increasing pollution to our oceans they need our help.

Mr Cannon was born in Shoreham, England, and moved to Australia when he was 13. He now lives with his girlfriend in a converted bus in Coral Bay and runs underwater photography company Ocean Collective Media.

Whale sharks are slow-moving, filter feeders which can grow up to 12m in length and weigh 18 tonnes.

Whale sharks are slow-moving, filter feeders which can grow up to 12m in length and weigh 18 tonnes