Living Whale Shark Sawed and Sold in Chinese Super Market [Video]

[Prometheus 1,494]

Shocking footage shows a giant whale shark being sawed into pieces and sold at a Chinese market while STILL ALIVE

 

VIDEO CAN BE FOUND HERE ... WARNING! IT IS GRAPHIC!

It is a fate too cruel to imagine - to be slowly sawed into pieces while still alive.

But this was how a whale shark met its end in China recently as its meat was butchered in front of a huge crowd to be sold at market.

The sickening scene was captured on camera and the video was uploaded to Youtube -  sparking outrage among animal rights activists and shark groups who have labelled the footage 'appalling'.

In the 20-second clip, two men go to work on the shark with a giant crosscut saw - starting by chopping off its majestic tail fin.

They continue to work their way upwards, butchering giant strips of the animal, a species listed as vulnerable.

As blood and water streams from the shark, the person filming the scene moves closer - revealing a gill clearly still struggling to breathe.

The whale shark's mouth is seen twitching as the butchers continue to chop it into pieces.

The distressed animal's gargantuan mouth then opens widely as people point and comment on the fact that it's still alive.

About 20 people, including young children, are watching the butchery - and some gasp in horror saying: 'This is too cruel.' 

The whale shark, the largest fish in the world, reaching more than 12 metres in length, is protected by law from being hunted or sold for its meat. People who violate the law can face criminal charges.

It’s unclear where the incident took place. But the Weibo user who posted the video online told reporters from Thepaper.cn he witnessed the scene in Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province, reports the South China Morning Post.

Ali Hood, Director of Conservation at The Shark Trust, said: 'The footage of a Whale Shark being butchered whilst apparently still alive has appalled Shark Trust supporters.

'To see such a magnificent, placid animal treated with such little dignity demonstrates to the Shark Trust how vital it is to continue to raise awareness as to the importance of sharks and their relatives to a healthy, balanced marine environment.

'Valued for their impressive fins, meat and liver oil, Whale Sharks are extremely vulnerable to overfishing often caught up in bycatch of larger fishing operations or targeted by artisa--l fleets. 

'Although listed under Appendix II of CITES and under the Convention for Migratory Species – the enforcement of domestic regulations can often lag behind.'

Ralph Pannell, director of wildlife & marine life travel company Aqua-Firma, added: 'This is cruelty beyond belief. 

'I have recently been hosting Aqua-Firma Whale Shark Research & Photography trips in Mexico, admiring hundreds of these gentle giants swimming in their natural environment. 

'This harrowing video highlights the greatest threat that whale sharks face today: new fisheries in southern China have been set up to target up to 600 whale sharks per year. 

'If you put into context that around 6,500 whale sharks have so far ever been identified, 600 sharks in a year is a desperately high number. 

'Fisheries of this kind have already exhausted local populations of whale sharks in India and Taiwan. We urge countries to place a ban on fishing these beautiful mainly plankton-eating creatures, so that their IUCN status does not turn from Vulnerable to Endangered with extinction.'

Last year an investigation revealed how a factory in southeastern China was cutting up about 600 of the fish every year.

A single carcass is worth around $30,000 (£19,000), with the meat being sold for food and the fins sold to restaurants for shark fin soup.

The skin is sold to manufacturers for bags and the oil is sold to companies that make fish oil supplements.

 

[RAMROD 117,048]

Oh yes, shark fin soup and whale meat are delicacy in East Asia, by that I mean in China, Japan and Korea.

It is such a waste tbh.

But it tasty tho, I ate it when younger during some banquets my parents attended. 

[Gohan 16,857]

****ing chinese people and their crazy obsession of killing animals, oh my God. Dogs, cats, pandas and now whales.

****ing stop already

 

[Staryu 6,162]

Horrific.  Poor animal.

[Quasi 11,031]

****ing chinese people and their crazy obsession of killing animals, oh my God. Dogs, cats, pandas and now whales.

****ing stop already

 

Please don't generalize. I know that you knew that this comment was coming to you but seriously, stop. And are you serious?  Dogs?  And don't show me some obscure youtube video proving that Chinese eat dogs cause I've seen it all before. 

Once again,  this is a very small minority that is tarnishing the image of the majority. 

I'm sick of people killing animals inhumanely. Not Chinese people. But people. Don't narrow it down to the race and culture because we're all a part of it. We just don't choose to accept it. 

[SKANK 14,288]

****ing chinese people and their crazy obsession of killing animals, oh my God. Dogs, cats, pandas and now whales.

****ing stop already

 

 

Billions of animals are slaughtered annually in America. China isn't more obsessed with the killing of animals then The United States of Hamburgers, Hotdogs, and Hunting. Some cultures are just less interested in the pretense of a happy slaughter house.

But by all means, if it helps you sleep at night, your savagery is nothing compared to theirs.

[Gohan 16,857]

Please don't generalize. I know that you knew that this comment was coming to you but seriously, stop. And are you serious?  Dogs?  And don't show me some obscure youtube video proving that Chinese eat dogs cause I've seen it all before. 

Once again,  this is a very small minority that is tarnishing the image of the majority. 

I'm sick of people killing animals inhumanely. Not Chinese people. But people. Don't narrow it down to the race and culture because we're all a part of it. We just don't choose to accept it. 

We're talking about Chinese culture right now. It's sad to call it a part of the culture, but anyway... We can't do anything about since the country does nothing to stop it.

I was talking about the Yulin festival, where hundreds of dogs are killed just for fun.

And sorry if I offended you, I was just so angry about the issue that I let it all out in that post.e

[Quasi 11,031]

We're talking about Chinese culture right now. It's sad to call it a part of the culture, but anyway... We can't do anything about since the country does nothing to stop it.

I was talking about the Yulin festival, where hundreds of dogs are killed just for fun.

And sorry if I offended you, I was just so angry about the issue that I let it all out in that post.e

Killing is not a part of Chinese culture. It's a part of human culture, gruesome as it is. That's basically my point. If you think the dog festival is bad you should check out how many forest wildlife are hunted for sport. Slaughtered by the millions. 

And it's okay I wasn't offended. 

[TiphEret 1,320]

I wonder how dumb the butchers can be: let's kill a protected specie in front of a crowd so everyone can see it and hey, let's do it while it is alive so people get so shocked they won't stop talking about it... 

On another side, yes it is very cruel but I don't know why this particular accident gets more attention apart from the fact that it is a protected species, because most animals that are killed for food aren't kill nicely, let's face it, a lot of them are still alive while being slaughtered... 

****ing chinese people and their crazy obsession of killing animals, oh my God. Dogs, cats, pandas and now whales.

****ing stop already

 

but....pretty much the whole world kills animals and most of the time in inhuman condition, why are angry at China? because they kill animals we consider as pets? 

[Noah X 5,250]

Please don't generalize. I know that you knew that this comment was coming to you but seriously, stop. And are you serious?  Dogs?  And don't show me some obscure youtube video proving that Chinese eat dogs cause I've seen it all before. 

Once again,  this is a very small minority that is tarnishing the image of the majority. 

I'm sick of people killing animals inhumanely. Not Chinese people. But people. Don't narrow it down to the race and culture because we're all a part of it. We just don't choose to accept it. 

you know they have a dog meat festival once every year where thousands of dogs are slaughtered 

[Economy 52,848]

****ing chinese people and their crazy obsession of killing animals, oh my God. Dogs, cats, pandas and now whales.

****ing stop already

 

animals are killed everywhere. Its not a chineese thing. Most ppl in most countries all eat meat and guess what? It needs to be killed

 

this is more a matter of how they kill them than anything else. Like if ur gonna kill an animal, do it quickly dont torture them.

[Hexxx 2,244]

that's sad. any animal slaughtered alive is sad. 

[BlondeQueenOfGGD 25,454]

that was uncalled for 

 

It should be legal to hunt down these hunters/fishermen who catch and kill endangered animals on purpose. 

 

that's racist 

i was joking but I apologize

[Quasi 11,031]

you know they have a dog meat festival once every year where thousands of dogs are slaughtered 

Millions of game animals are hunted each year in America alone. Don't limit yourself to that horrid festival when the same thing is occurring in Western countries on the same scale, and on an even more frequent basis. I hate that people are committing these acts of slaughter just as much as you do. But the point I'm trying to make is that I hate when people do it. Not just Chinese people. The moment a video like this pops up people are quick to blame the cultures and the ethnicities behind the act and say that the act is limited to the race of people committing it. We have to learn to look past that and figure out the reason why we humans, are killing what we're meant to be protecting. 

[HANZ 4,380]

this is so cruel, but then again we love hamburgers, chicken and meat which were living animals with feelings and emotions at some point, the rest of the world is no better than china, just go to youtube and see how they kill cows, chickes and porks, it's horrible and unhuman.