A dramatic video from the Newsflare archive of a whale shark crashing into a diver in the Atlantic Ocean.

Chris Coates was holding his breath and filming another diver on a spearfishing adventure film shoot off Ascension Island in July 2014 when the unusual accident happened.

Chris, who was focusing on the action in front of him, failed to spot the enormous shark approaching him from behind and was warned by the other diver just before it crashed into him.

According to the filmer, a fellow spearfisher, Chris took most of the impact on his lower torso and was hit in the head by the shark’s dorsal fin but was not seriously injured and managed to go out diving the next day.

Whale sharks are a type of slow-moving filter feeding shark and are the largest known species of fish.

A dramatic video has emerged of a whale shark crashing into a diver in the Atlantic Ocean.

Chris Coates was holding his breath and filming another diver on a spearfishing adventure film shoot off Ascension Island in July when the unusual accident happened.

Chris, who was focusing on the action in front of him, failed to spot the enormous shark approaching him from behind and was warned by the other diver just before it crashed into him.

According to the filmer, a fellow spearfisher, Chris took most of the impact on his lower torso and was hit in the head by the shark’s dorsal fin but was not seriously injured and managed to go out diving the next day.

Whale sharks are a type of slow-moving filter feeding shark and are the largest known species of fish.