Fishermen rescue 20 foot-long whale shark from net, release it in sea

Representational Pic

The awareness campaign to release the protected species that get entangled into the nets of fishermen seems to be working in favour of the species as in the past year, fishermen from Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have rescued four whale sharks and have released them back into the sea. A video of an incident that took place at the end of last month went viral in which it can be seen that fishermen released back an 18-20-feet-long whale shark back into the sea.

Confirming the same Ganesh Nakhwa, President of Maharashtra Purse Seine Fishing Welfare Association said, "A few of days ago, one of the fishermen from Alibaug sent me a video where they saved the life of an 18-20-feet-long whale shark that was entangled in the fishing net."
The fishermen from Alibag area were in the deep sea at around 50 nautical miles when they realized that a huge whale shark was entangled in the fishing net. Without wasting any time the members cut the fishing net and safely released back the marine creature into the sea.

"From the past year, we have been conducting programs in various fishing villages in and around Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Raigad area where we are creating awareness among the community about the marine life and what they should do to save the life of these protected species when they get entangled in nets. In the past year, our fishermen have successfully rescued four whale sharks that were entangled in the net and these sharks were safely released back into the sea ". added Nakhwa.

The rescue that was done by fisherman Ullesh Nakhwa along with his fellow members on the boat was in 80 meters deep sea and the video for the same has gone viral and is receiving praise from people.

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