Horrifying Video Released Of Sharks Being Finned Alive And Beaten
An unidentified activist with Mercy for Animals went undercover between December 2016 and December 2017 to get a glimpse at what really happens on commercial fishing vessels. The unnamed man posed as a videographer to film the activities on the vessels, but also smuggled hidden video equipment on to the Albatro and Margert O.
The video the activist filmed was recorded across three trips on the two fishing vessels, with two of the trips occurring around Santa Barbara Island – 60 kilometers south-west of Los Angeles, California. Clips from the video show dead sea lion and dolphins being brought onto the vessel after being caught in drift nets, which can stretch for more than a mile and descend up to 100 feet below the surface.
Along with sea lions and dolphins being caught in the net, various other animals such as sharks, stingrays and birds get caught. In one clip in the video, a shark is beaten with a baseball bat, while another clip shows a shark being finned alive on the boat’s deck.
“I convinced them to let me on and openly film a lot of the routine fishing work that they did, and whenever there was a violation they would tell me to put the camera away and I would switch to covert gear,” the activist said.
“On the Albatro, all three times dolphins came up in the drift nets, they would tell me to not film,” he added. “One of the crew would say ‘you’re not a cop, right? If you are a cop you’re done, we’re going to tie sandbags to your boots.’ And he pointed to the bottom of the ocean.“
Commercial fisherman Gary Burke, who uses drift nets, has said that California’s fishing industry have begun using nets with larger holes, which will hopefully prevent dolphins and other sea creatures from getting caught. Along with the larger openings in the nets, they are also using acoustic devices. Burke also told Mercury News that while he did disagree with several portions of the video, many practices can also be blamed on ill-informed crew members.
“In some foreign countries there are no rules. They do whatever they want. That guy, you’ve got to remember he’s from Argentina or Chile. The guy doesn’t know anything about anything. But in his defense, all those sharks are edible sharks. I’m not in favor of beating them with a bat. I would have used a knife. But we are allowed to catch them, and people eat them.”
The video, which can be seen below, has been turned over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and investigators are determining if there are any violations.
LOLWOT would like to advise viewers that the following video contains graphic scenes of animal cruelty.
