The Hindu Business Line : Whale shark gets new lease of life

THIS must come as great news to animal lovers. A fishing trawler recently released a fully-grown specimen of whale shark that had got entangled in the fishing net off the Veraval coast.

The incident occurred on December 16, when fishermen Dilipbhai Govindbhai Solanki, Ramesh Jetha Baraiya and Lalji Mandan Phulbaraiya were out on a fishing expedition, 16 km from Sutrapada village in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

The three fishermen found a whale shark entangled in the net. Instead of killing the fish, as was the practice till a few years ago, the fishermen decided to let it go. "In fact, by releasing the fish, the fishermen had to cut their net costing about Rs 40,000. But they decided to incur the loss to save the animal," said Gujarat's Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Pradeep Khanna.

The three fishermen called for help; around 40 of their colleagues from Sutrapada joined in the rescue work. The net was cut off and the whale shark slipped back into the water, unharmed, said Khanna.

Part of the credit for the fishermen's decision must go the Wildlife Trust of India, which has been working in close co-ordination with the Forest Department to create awareness about the gentle sea animal.

The Wildlife Trust has been encouraging towns along the Saurashtra coast to adopt the whale shark as their mascot. It has been regularly been organising street plays, in which the animal is portrayed as a girl coming back to her parent's place for breeding.

The trust has even roped in religious leader Morari Bapu in its conservation efforts.

Although little is known about them, whale sharks are known to visit the Saurashtra coast in Gujarat between March and May. Historically, whale sharks had been slaughtered by fishermen when they visited the Gujarat coast. Unofficial estimates by wildlife experts estimate that nearly 500 whale sharks had been killed in Gujarat each year till 2001.

But ever since the gentle shark species was included in the endangered list in 2001 and an awareness programme was launched by the Wildlife Trust of India, the number of sharks killings has declined considerably, says Dhiresh Joshi, Manager, whale shark campaign of the Wildlife Trust of India.

Whale sharks can grow up to 50 feet in length and are the largest shark species in the world. They feed on plankton and smaller fish and is not known to attack humans.