Vhaali whale's regular visits to the Saurashtra coast have registered a significant jump this year.
Vhaali whale's regular visits to the Saurashtra coast have registered a significant jump this year.
As the state gets set to celebrate the Whale Shark Day at Mul Dwarka in Kodinar on Sunday, the hearty news is that as many as eleven whale sharks have already been rescued by fishermen in this season over the past few weeks.
The figure registered is a record high. Every year, 50-60 whale sharks are rescued, but this year the figure is expected to go even higher.
On Saturday, two fishes were rescued and on Tuesday, as many as four fishes were rescued in a day by a team of forest officers, activists and fishermen.
On Thursday, the eighth big fish was rescued by fishermen after it was accidentally caught in their fishing net. Like several before her, the 13ft-long fish weighing one ton was set free in the sea after a cautious rescue operation.
The shy mammal seems to have arrived much earlier this year to Saurashtra - perhaps because of the early snow in Europe - and that too in high number. An informal survey by activists and fishermen estimates that around 700 whale sharks come to Saurashtra waters to spend the winters here. It is also being speculated by marine scientists that the mammal comes here to breed, which makes the coast an important ecological reserve.
In keeping with Gujaratis' affinity for conserving wildlife, fishermen, who inadvertently captured whale shark while fishing in the high seas, tore their fishing nets and released it back into the sea, though this would permanently damage their nets.
"Each fish is worth approximately Rs3-3.5 lakh if its body parts are sold in the international market. But these sensitive fishermen never consider this and despite personal loss, they save the fishes' lives. These rescue operations have been ongoing for over a decade now; Since four years, Gujarat government has started rewarding these fishermen with a maximum of Rs25,000 for each net destroyed," says Dinesh Goswami, president of Kodinar-based Prakruti Nature Club.
The sharks are typically sighted around 40-45 km in the deep sea. Goswami with his nature club claims to have saved as many as 215 whale sharks since 1997. In December 2005, Morari Bapu undertook an awareness campaign urging fishermen not to kill the whale sharks accidentally caught in their nets.
The first Kartik Amavasya of December is celebrated as Whale Shark Day in Gujarat. Today, kids in Veraval will take out a rally spreading awareness about saving the fish.
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