A fisherman’s huge catch – a marine monster so large it covered his truck from end to end as he drove it to market – has been seen on camera. The Chinese fisherman who captured this “super fish” was so happy with his catch that he strapped it to his car and drove it to market, oblivious to the fact that it was a critically endangered whale shark. Images of a whale shark, a protected species, being towed through the Fujian province town of Xiangzhi provoked fury.
A fishing captain named Cai Chengzhu told News 163 that he and his team were taking their net out of the water when they saw a large hole in the side. In an interview with the Shanghaiist, the skipper remarked, “It’s considered that the big beast demolished the net and came inside to eat the fish we collected.” The whale shark tried to get out from the net, but died shortly after, so the fishermen carried it to shore with the rest of their catch, according to Cai.
“Unfortunately, it was too late by the time we were able to release it,” he stated. “It was dreadful, and we tried everything we could to free it, but after capturing it and knowing it was already dead, it seemed a waste to squander it.” At the Xiangzhi wholesale market, he allegedly planned to sell the big whale shark for up to $3500. Although whale sharks are a threatened species in China, and acquiring or selling them is prohibited, the fact that the shark was dead may have changed things.
