Pictures have emerged of a fisherman’s massive catch – a marine monster so large that it covered his truck from end to end as he took it off to market.
The Chinese fisherman who caught this “super fish” was so pleased with his prize that he fastened it to his car and drove it to market, seemingly unaware that it was an endangered whale shark.
Images of a whale shark, a protected species, being towed through the town of Xiangzhi in Fujian province sparked outrage on Weibo, China’s counterpart to Twitter.
Cai Chengzhu, a fishing skipper, told News 163 that he and his crew were hauling their net out of the water when they saw a massive hole in the side.
“It’s thought that the gigantic beast destroyed the net and came inside to eat the fish we captured,” the captain stated in the interview, which the Shanghaiist translated.
Cai stated that the whale shark fought to escape the net but di.ed soon after, so the fisherman brought it to shore with the rest of their catch.
“Unfortunately, by the time we were able to liberate it, it was too late,” he explained. “It was ter.ri.bly aw.ful, and we did everything we could to release it, but having captured it and knowing it was already de.ad, it seemed a pity to waste it.”
He allegedly planned to sell the massive whale shark for up to $3500 at the Xiangzhi wholesale market. Although whale sharks are a vul.ner.able species in China and it is forbidden to acquire or sell them, the fact that the shark was dead may have changed matters.
“I questioned the fish market officials who regulate this kind of stuff, and they stated that because it was already de.ad when we caught it and it was there, we may as well sell it,” he explained.
