A local woman from Swansea discovered more than 14 dead sharks at Hunts Bay in Gower whilst she was snorkeling, and there may have been dozens more in the water nearby
Karen Jones from Swansea said she saw a small boat out in Hunts Bay in the Gower on Sunday, July 18.
She presumed the person on the boat was looking at lobster pots, but when Karen snorkeled in Hunts Bay early Monday morning she said she couldn't believe what she found in the water.
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Karen discovered more than dead 14 sharks lying in a long line on the seabed.
Karen said: "The sharks were lying on the seabed on their backs about a metre apart in a long line. I just brought a few to the surface to photograph them then I put them back. The crabs were starting to feed off them.
"There were probably a lot more, some were really big. It was so awful to see so many beautiful sharks killed."
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Karen said, after discovering the sharks, she suspected that the person she saw in the boat may have put out a gillnet, and all the sharks were a by-catch which had then been chucked back into the sea.
A gillnet is a curtain of netting that hangs in the water. The mesh size can be adjusted according to the size of fish the person using it wants to catch. According to the Marine Stewardship Council website, 'gillnets do carry the risk of bycatch (accidental capture of unwanted species) and interaction with other marine animals. In order to be MSC certified, gillnet fisheries are often required to make improvements, which include increased monitoring and independent observer coverage. Gear modifications have also been made and some fisheries use ‘pingers’: acoustic alarms attached to nets which deter marine mammals'.
One man commented on Karen's Facebook post, saying he had found 50 dead sharks in the same area.
He said: "I was diving in Hunts Bay yesterday evening and saw this. But I saw well over 50+ dead sharks scattered across the sea bed. Some still with net attached to them. Definitely Gillnet and so sad to see."
WalesOnline has contacted a number of marine organisations for comment.
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