The world’s largest fish, a whale shark, was washed ashore on a beach in Vizag. On noticing it, the whale shark was guided back to the sea by the Forest Department officials, fishermen and wildlife conservationists immediately.
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In a conversation with Yo! Vizag, District Forest Officer (DFO), Anant Shankar, informed that the fish that was washed ashore on the Vizag Beach, was a whale shark, the world’s largest fish (not a mammal). He added that these sharks are rare and are endangered.
“On 18 December, 2021, during the late evening hours, few local fishermen noticed a large fish being washed ashore on the beach. They immediately alerted the people around and did whatever they could to push it back into the sea. They kept pouring water and physically tried to push it.” said Mr Shankar. Soon the locals sought the help of a wildlife volunteer, Srikanth, who was near the location. Srikanth immediately brought it to the attention of forest officials and wildlife conservationists.
“With manpower and ropes, no efforts were spared to push the 2-toned fish back into the sea. After over 3 hours of tremendous collaborative efforts, the whale shark successfully swam back into the sea,” said the District Forest Officer.
Currently, the whale shark’s pictures, along with the dotted patterns on its body, are being shared with whale shark research programmes for identification.
Preparing for the future, Anant Shankar told Yo! Vizag, “This was the first time such a huge fish was washed ashore. As time is of great essence during such eventualities, the forest officials are gearing up to rescue and safe release fishes being washed ashore, in a better and faster manner in the future”.
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