Rare Whale Shark Found Off Chennai Coast

October 15, 2004

Release from: India News

Chennai - A rare large whale shark which got entangled in fishing nets, off the Chennai coast, was brought ashore by fishermen but died on the way to a quiet beach south of this Tamil Nadu capital.

The whale shark is a protected species, rarely sighted in the Bay of Bengal, Chennai's wildlife warden K.S.S.V.P Reddy said Friday.

Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the National Biodiversity Authority rushed to the beach Thursday to save the male whale shark, which was 4.5 m long and weighed nearly two tonnes. But they were too late.

Fishermen had tried to drag the black shark with white spots to shore but it died in the process. They were then busy attempting to cut it in pieces for its meat and fins, which fetch a good price in the market.

They were stopped by authorities who dug a 10-ft deep pit in the beach and buried the creature of the deep with the help of a crane. A guard was posted to ensure it was not dug up later.

Marine experts mourned the fact that the shark, which was brought under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972, was killed by the fishermen.

National Biodiversity Authority secretary K. Venkataraman, who also visited the beach, said it was difficult for the authorities to convince the fishermen that they were prohibited from bringing in catch like this.

"I have for long wished to see a whale shark. I have never been able to sight one even in the waters around the Andaman Islands where they are supposed to be found. To find such a specimen off Chennai's coast shows these creatures still live in these waters," he said.

This species of the whale shark are not hunters and killers and feed on planktons.