Friday July 17, 2009
Dead rare shark caught in net
By M. SIVANANTHA SHARMA
BUTTERWORTH: Four fishermen on a deepsea fishing trip found a dead whale shark measuring 5.36m in their net 50 nautical miles off the coast.
The fishermen, from Kuala Muda near here, made the discovery at 1am yesterday.
Salleh Hussin, 48, said they tried to release the one-tonne creature back into the sea after realising that it was dead but failed to do so as it was too heavy.
The shark at the Kuala Muda jetty He said they then towed the shark back to the Kuala Muda jetty and informed the Penang Fisheries Department at 7.15am.
Department deputy director Khairul Anwar Mohamad, who went to the scene with three staff members, said the department would use the whale shark carcass for research as it was a protected species.
“Our initial investigation found that the fishermen did not catch the fish intentionally,” he said, adding that a decision would be made after the investigation was completed.
It was the second whale shark found in a fishing net in Penang in seven months.
On Jan 2, several fishermen found a 7m-long whale shark in their net 10 nautical miles off Teluk Bahang.
One of them said they found the dead fish when they tried to pull up their net and decided to tow it back to shore as they feared that the carcass if dumped at sea would pollute the waters.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter-feeding shark and is the largest living fish.
The slow-moving creature is known for its playful character and poses no harm to humans.
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