10 April, 2009--Fishermen in the Philippines have accidentally caught and then eaten one of the rarest sharks in the world. The megamouth shark is one of the most elusive species in the world - the one eaten by the fishermen was only the 41st ever spotted, reports Sky News. The four-metre, half-tonne fish was accidentally snared by fishermen trawling for mackerel off the coast of Donsol. A WWF representative said the shark was butchered and its meat sautéed in coconut milk as a local delicacy, against the conservation group's advice. Ironically, the coastal town of Donsol has earned a global reputation for marine conservation. Campaigners recently convinced the locals to stop butchering giant whale sharks which feed in nearby waters. The town prides itself as being the whale shark capital of the world and marine tourism is vital to the town's economy. The megamouth shark is a fairly recent scientific discovery. The first specimen was caught off the coast of Hawaii in 1976. Only eight megamouths have ever been encountered in Philippine seas. They have also been spotted off California, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Australia
No comments:
Post a Comment