They really are a wonder to see. I had a chance to see 3 of them together, one being a baby (still the size of a car). It is pretty amazing to see these in person and just how large they are.

I have seen a doco years ago in which these guys deliberately target whale sharks be abuse they are so big and can feed so many people. So I doubt it was dead when they caught it. They hook onto them and then drag them backwards until the shark is dead or to worn ou to fight. Then they drag it back to port and have one hell of a party to celebrate their feast.

Also since it is a shark and not actually a member of the whale family I don't believe that it uses sonar like real whales do to find their way, so I don't think it was lost in shallow water.

So...let me get this straight...

I'm seeing all these posts about how marvelous this catch is, how beautiful these sharks how, how interesting people find them...and then I read a post that goes something like this: They just found a dead member of an endangered species, of what is apparently an unexpected size, and their first option is to sell it off to be made into soup.

You'd think an endangered species would be treated with more reverence, dead or not. Stuff it and put it in a museum!

That's generally what we do with "beautiful" and "wonderful" things.

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This is sad.

Whale sharks are harmless.

Fishermen are jerks.