MAKO PUPPIES SLAUGHTERED!!
Over the winter I had time to do some research on illegal shark kills around the globe. This is one article that really upset me.
St. John's Reef in the Red Sea has been documented by Jacques Cousteau as the pupping grounds for makos and twelve other species of sharks. The reef is supposed to be off-limits to commercial sharking to protect the offspring.
Longliners, seeking shark fins, have actually been caught using mako and other shark PUPPIES as their BAIT!! Their target is GIANT BREEDER SHARKS! The photo below, from the article, is a dead pregnant mako that was just shy of 3 meters long (about 8.5 feet). The big shark was spotted by a diver as she was suspended from a hook below a buoy next to the reef. In her belly were TEN DEAD MAKO PUPPIES!!! The hooks all around her were all baited with shark pups!!
In another article I read that these illegal fisherman would remove the babies from pregnant sharks before they took the mother's fins. They would then recycle the babies as bait.
Here is the address to the full article;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1806000/1806990.stm
Over the winter I had time to do some research on illegal shark kills around the globe. This is one article that really upset me.
St. John's Reef in the Red Sea has been documented by Jacques Cousteau as the pupping grounds for makos and twelve other species of sharks. The reef is supposed to be off-limits to commercial sharking to protect the offspring.
Longliners, seeking shark fins, have actually been caught using mako and other shark PUPPIES as their BAIT!! Their target is GIANT BREEDER SHARKS! The photo below, from the article, is a dead pregnant mako that was just shy of 3 meters long (about 8.5 feet). The big shark was spotted by a diver as she was suspended from a hook below a buoy next to the reef. In her belly were TEN DEAD MAKO PUPPIES!!! The hooks all around her were all baited with shark pups!!
In another article I read that these illegal fisherman would remove the babies from pregnant sharks before they took the mother's fins. They would then recycle the babies as bait.
Here is the address to the full article;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1806000/1806990.stm
