Whale shark found dead with injuries, liver missing: Are cameras to blame? India

DNA | Apr 29, 2013

Ahmedabad: A whale shark was found dead in the sea near Madavad coast in Kodinar taluka of Junagadh on Saturday afternoon. What has raised the hackles of environmentalists and wildlife activists is that the shark had suffered injuries and some of its organs (mainly liver) were missing.

Dinesh Goswami of Prakruti Nature Club said that some fishermen who were out fishing, saw the dead shark and immediately informed the fishing guards. “The fishing guards man the towers. They informed us and we called the forest department officials,” said Goswami. He said that this was the first instance of a whale shark being found with injuries caused by an attack.

“The injury marks on the body of the shark suggest that it was attacked. Its liver is missing. Some other organs may also be missing but that can be known only after the post-mortem is done,” said Goswami.

He said that though found on Saturday afternoon at around 1.30 pm, the shark could be brought to shore only on Sunday morning. It was 30-ft-long and weighed around 4 to 5 tonnes.

“There was low tide and hence we had to set out early in the morning to bring it to shore. It is now close to the beach and a JCB will be brought to lift it out of water,” said Goswami.

daily.bhaskar.com

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