Video of Gargantuan Whale Shark Caught in Pakistan
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.18.12
This video shows one of the world’s largest whale sharks that have ever been brought ashore. The fish in this video was brought in on February 7, was 39 feet long and weighed 15,432 pounds. The fishermen who brought in the big animal claimed to have found the animal already “unconscious” and dying prior to netting it, but at least one shark expert has cast doubt on that claim and suspects that the story is a cover for a “whale shark hunt that couldn’t avoid notice”, according to the Huffington Post.
Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature describes whale sharks as a “vulnerable” species, the legislative responsibility for protecting whale sharks or forbidding their hunting falls on the government of each nation.
Whale sharks are slow-moving filter feeders and are known to the largest species of fish living today. They are likely to grow in excess of 60 feet and weigh more than 10 tons. They feed primarily on plankton and can live as long 70 years. Whatever the reason for this shark’s unfortunate demise, the video below provides a unique spectacle of the power and size of nature rarely seen by the human eye. Watch the clip below from ITN for more information on the shark.
httpv://youtu.be/itjSdePtoNw
This video by National Geographic provides some insight into whale shark behavior.
httpv://youtu.be/uQrBwN39LJI
