Scuba diver pays Indonesian fishermen $75 to release baby whale shark

AMBON, Indonesia, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A Russian tourist visiting Indonesia was filmed paying a group of fishermen about $75 to release their captured baby whale shark.

The video, filmed earlier this year and posted to YouTube by user AJsoCal, shows the fishermen in Ambon bringing the baby whale shark to shore, where a crowd of villagers and tourists gather to see the large animal.

A man identified as a scuba diver from Moscow approaches the fishermen and enlists the help of an interpreter to negotiate for the whale shark's release.

The fishermen agree to release the ocean creature for about $75.

The video ends with the apparently unharmed whale shark swimming off after the diver made the payment.