A Chinese fisherman caught a two-ton 4.5 meter-long endangered whale shark in his net and tookt it to market on the top of a tractor.
The photo of the event has been sweeping the internet. Especially Sina Weibo, which is a Chinese website comparable to Twitter, the Independent reported.
"It's believed that the giant creature broke the net and got inside to eat the fish we caught," fishing captain Cai Chengzhu told Shangaiist.
The fishing captain did not immediately know what the behemoth was, and planned to sell it for between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan. It's illegal to purchase or sell whale sharks, so Chengzhu was not able to make a profit; members of the Fujian fisheries department prevented the sale, the Independent reported.
The whale shark is the largest fish in the world. They tend to swim alone, but can sometimes be found feeding in packs, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reported. The animals are considered to be a threatened species because demand for their meat, funs, and oil has depleted their numbers. Whale sharks are also victims of bycatch, meaning they are accidental victims of fishermen looking for other types of catches.
In order to combat the threat to the species WWF researchers are studying shark habits using "satellite tags, sonar devices and digital cameras." Whale sharks have unique spot and stripe patterns on their skin that helps researchers identify individual sharks. Divers photograph the animal right above its pectoral fins and behind its gill slits; these photos are then fed into a computer database containing 458 whale sharks.
WWF has also place satellite tags on 29 whale sharks. They found most sharks stay withing 125 miles from the shore and spend the majority of their time below 150 feet; the animals only go to the surface to feed on rare occasions.
