Whale shark trapped in net, survives hours on rocky shore

Surat: While the joy of seeing a whale shark live for the first time on South Gujarat coast did not last long for the enthusiasts, but the news that it was sent back to the sea alive surely sent a ripple of joy among the nature lovers. A few videos of the fish’s rescue had gone viral showing the whale shark trapped in a fishing net, bleeding and rolled over a slide wooden slide. At some point, people were even doubtful whether it was actually alive. In one of the videos, the whale shark can be seen bleeding from top and there is no movement at all.
Forest department was alerted by fishermen from Dumas at around 4.30pm on Monday about the whale shark on the bank once the water receded. Forest officials, however, were not sure exactly how long the fish would have been out of water, but said that it was put back into the sea by 6pm.
A 15-foot long fish weighing over 250kg doesn’t come so close to the shore normally, experts claim. However, no formal inquiry has been conducted to find out how the huge fish got trapped in the fishing net and how it could have been dragged into the coast. The net caused injury to the fish which made it bleed while being dragged on to the rocky shore.
“We did not conduct any medical tests on the fish before releasing it back into the water, but our officials found it alive, though weak. As per marine experts, a whale shark can survive out of water for a few hours with the oxygen it retains inside its body,” said Puneet Nayyar, deputy conservator of forest, Surat.
The videos mainly showed the fish lying trapped in a fishing net on the stone embankment. People were heard discussing in the videos, how to cut and distribute it among the villagers! “We did not get a chance to examine the fish, but were informed by forest officials and fishermen that it was alive. Since it was first time for most, no one was prepared to handle rescue operation of such a huge fish,” said Darshan Desai, volunteer of Prayas Team Environment, an NGO.
“No one can say for sure how long a whale shark can survive in land. But if the forest department has put it back into the sea after three hours, they’ve done a good job. Since the forest officials have no experience about this species of fish, it was a good attempt,” said Dr B C Choudhury, a retired scientist from Wildlife Institute of India (WII).