Authorities Investigate Whale Shark’s Capture
Facebook postThis social-media post sparked the outrage and led to calls for an investigation. The translated caption reads: "Woo, It is in Cambodia sea. Have you ever seen the big shark like this? Its weight is more than 1 ton. My boat caught it."
We’ve seen bad behavior with marine life posted on social media before. A teen riding a whale shark. Divers defacing coral. And sadly, fishermen finning sharks.
Posing with the carcass of an endangered whale shark, a fisherman on a trawler grins and makes a peace sign while holding up one of the dead fish’s fins, in an image that caused outrage when it circulated online. When originally posted, the photograph was credited to Leap Kuon.
One of the posters included Paul Ferber, Marine Conservation Cambodia's founding director.
The translation of the original caption reads: "Woo, It is in Cambodia sea. Have you ever seen the big shark like this? Its weight is more than 1 ton. My boat caught it."
“This is what IUU [illegal, unreported and unregulated] trawlers are doing in the Cambodian Ocean, not only are they destroying habitats and catching endangered turtles, but they are also catching and hacking up endangered whale sharks,” Mr. Ferber wrote alongside the post.
“I hope we can see photos on [Facebook] of the relevant authorities arresting these idiots,” he added.
His post was shared more than 300 times and attracted dozens of comments, including one from Ouk Vibol, director of Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration fisheries conservation department, who says they are investigating.
Sadly, this fisherman is not the first — and will not be the last — person investigated for illegally hunting whale sharks.
iStockFull-grown adult whale sharks are about the size of a large school bus.
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