Shark entangled in fishing net rescued in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam

The shark was later taken back to the sea by the forest department officials, fishermen and wildlife conservationists

Local fishermen managed to rescue a whale shark entangled in the shore fishing net on Tantadi beach in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, said District Forest Officer (DFO), Anant Shankar.

The shark was later taken back to the sea by the forest department officials, fishermen and wildlife conservationists, added the DFO.

“It is a whale shark, the world’s largest fish. These are endangered,” he stated.

“The instructions from the DFO were simple- guide the whale shark to safety, sparing no efforts or expenses. What ensued were herculean efforts, both physical and mental, with tremendous coordination and collaboration by the forest department, fishermen and wildlife conservationists, to guide this 2-tonne fish back into the ocean alive. 

And it was a success. The whale shark successfully swam back into the depths of the ocean,” he further stated.

“The shark’s pictures are now being shared with the Maldives Whale shark research programme for identification. This would help us to understand the movements and territories of these gentle giants better”. 

Additionally, the fishermen are being advised and requested to approach the forest department for rescue and safe release directly in such an eventuality, as in such operations, time is of the essence. The fishermen will be given compensation in case of any damages to their fishing nets for release of Whale sharks in case the whale sharks get entangled in their fishing nets,” he said.

************************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com