Deep-sea disaster causes shark influx in Bangladeshi coastline - More Whale Sharks caught

Aquatic life experts fear an unidentified deep-sea disaster for massive influx of sharks in the Bangladeshi coastlines as deaths of whale sharks and dolphin in the hand of local fishermen, local daily The New Nation reported Friday.

"Some abnormal change or pollution in the deep sea may be driving the plankton eating sharks to the coastline," the daily quoted Dr Shahadat Hossain of Cox's Bazar-based Fisheries Research Institute as saying.

Hossain said changed phenomenon in the deep sea was probably disturbing the usual movement of the aquatic lives, including the non-ferocious type sharks in the deep sea.

His comments came as the fishermen said besides the three big whale sharks and one dolphin, scores of small sharks were being entangled in their nets in recent days.

According to the daily, the last huge bodied whale shark having a length of 29 feet (8.7 meters) and width of 10 feet (3 meters) was netted by a fishing boat on Tuesday at the Bangladeshi coastlines to be lynched instantly and sold at a cost of 5,000 taka (about 77 US dollars) at the outskirts of Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.

The shark was immediately cut into pieces to be smuggled to neighboring Myanmar or Thailand, where sharks and baby sharks are treated as popular cuisine, the daily said.

Source: www.sharktrust.org