VISAKHAPATNAM: A 22-feet-long whale shark swam back into the sea after successful rescue efforts by local fishermen and forest department staff at Tantadi beach. This is the second time that a whale shark has been spotted at Tantadi village coast in the past three months.
It will be recalled that local fishermen with the help of forest officials rescued a whale shark that came ashore on December 21, 2021.
According to forest officials, 40 fishermen were fishing near the coast along Tantadi village with a shore fishing net when a whale shark got entangled in the net. The fishermen informed forest department officials who rushed to the spot for rescue operations.
The forest staff maintains a turtle base camp and hatchery near the site. They were assisted in the rescue operation by a wildlife volunteer. The whale shark had got stranded at low tide around 2 pm, but sending it back into the sea turned out to be a herculean task for fishermen and forest department staff. After four hours of strenuous efforts, the whale shark was released into the water.
