What would you do if you saw the largest fish in the world swimming past your boat? If you’re anything like Florida teen Chris Kreis, chances are you’d jump on top of it and go for a joy ride.

Kreis, 19, was vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico with his family when a 30-foot-long, 50,000-pound whale shark swam past his boat. To Kreis, the whale simply looked like the world’s biggest boogie board, so he did what any idiot teen would do, jumped off the boat and grabbed on to its fin.

“I decided, you know what, maybe I should go try and swim with him. I might not be able to do it ever again,” Kreis said. Unfortunately for Kreis, his joy ride was cut short to only nine-seconds before the whale began to descend into the water. However, he was lucky enough to get the amazing moment on tape.

Unsurprisingly, animal lovers weren’t too happy to learn about Kreis’ adventure, claiming human and whale contact can lead to harm for the mammals. ”When people spend a lot of time and a lot of pressure on a fish, it takes away that slime covering and potentially has negative health impacts for the fish,” marine biologist Bruce Neill said.

When asked if he would do it again, Kreis said yes, but the second time around he would just swim along it. How thoughtful. Check out the crazy clip below.

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