14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, Western Australia debuted a cull intended to make local waters safer by killing sharks ill-inspired enough to venture too close to the shoreline.
The cull is set to last until the end of April and targets sharks measuring over 3 meters (9.8 feet) that venture at a distance of less than one kilometer (0.62 miles) from the state's coastline.
Green group Sea Shepherd together with other conservationists do not approve of this shark killing program, and the events witnessed by members of this organization this past April 14 stand as proof that Western Australia's cull is utterly cruel.
As detailed on the organization's website, it was yesterday morning that crew aboard Sea Shepherd's Bruce the RIB had the chance to witness how officers with Western Australia's Fisheries Department treat sharks.
The conservationists say that, while patrolling these waters, they noticed that a drum line set in place at a distance of about one kilometer off Scarborough Beach was tangled. They concluded that something was caught in it and waited for Fisheries Department officers to arrive in the area.
Once there, the latter pulled a 2.7-meter (about 8.85 feet) long tiger shark out of the water. Since the animal was too small to be killed, the officers allowed it to return to the ocean. The trouble is that the shark was injured and bloodied, which is why the Sea Shepherd crew fears that it might not have survived.
A couple of hours later, officers pulled another tiger shark out of the ocean. This one measured more than three meters in length, so it was not set free. The conservationists say that this shark was a female, and that officers shot it three times before dumping its body in the water.
“I have now seen first hand the barbaric, senseless, cruel and tragedy of the WA shark cull. I have seen today a beautiful female 3 meter plus tiger shark in such a stressed state, thrashing around for her life, before being pulled alongside and shot three times,” conservationist Tim Watters said in a statement.
Furthermore, “Given the time of year, she was most likely was pregnant. I have just returned from defending the whales in the Antarctic Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and can not believe what I am seeing right off our WA coast, it rivals that of any cruelty and insanity of the Japanese whale poachers.”
Together with other members and supporters of the organization, the Sea Shepherd crew that witnessed this horrific treatment of sharks argues that Western Australia's Fisheries Department is not all that different to Japan's whaling fleet. This is because they both target protected species, try not to let the world see how they slaughter animals, and appear to have no respect for marine life.