Dead whale shark found at Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock, probe ordered

The carcass of a whale shark was found at Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock on Wednesday morning. The state fisheries department and the state-run Mangrove cell is investigating the matter.

Whale sharks or Rhincodon typus, the largest of the sharks, is an endangered species and is often a victim of bycatch, with adult sharks often getting caught and killed for their liver oil. These are often spotted off the western coast of India.

The whale shark is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972, rendering the capture and killing of the fish a cognisable offence.

In February this year, the Gujarat government had said its conservation policies had resulted in saving of 781 whale sharks in the last 17 years.