1.5 tonne whale shark caught up in a fishing net in Krabi

A whale shark was found caught up in a fishing net at Ao Nang between Koh Phi Phi and Koh Khaew (Green Island) by ‘Kietwarin 3’ fishing boat over the weekend. The whale shark was 5 metres and weighed around 1.5 tons.

The owner of the fishing boat, 48 year old Udon Boonsuk, who is also a boat captain says “boat crews got into the water to help the whale shark out of the fishing net. It took about 10 minutes.

“The whale shark was following other small fish and accidentally strayed into the fishing net. This whale shark is very rare to see. We certainly didn’t want to hurt it. We have released whale sharks anytime they were caught up in our nets. We are very happy as we believe that after helping such a big animal we will be lucky in catching more fish.”

President of Krabi Fisheries Association says, ”We are always urging our members to preserve rare marine creatures. Those should definitely not be caught. We are very glad that these fishermen have released the whale shark back to the sea. This way we can help to balance our marine ecological system.”