SINGAPORE: Eight lifeless blacktip sharks had been found dead, using their gills damaged, within the waters off Pulau Hantu on Weekend (Aug 28) early morning.
The carcasses of the juvenile sharks had been stumbled upon by scuba divers during a routine jump at the island, which is located off the south of Singapore.
One of them, dive guide Rasaalika Singhania, explained what she saw as a “devastating scene”.
She said: “When my jump buddy pointed out the first one, I was confused plus examined the body to attempt to understand what might have occurred.
“Its mouth and fins had been intact. There were many stab and reduce wounds. Then a number of metres forward we saw another, and another, and one more. ”
Non-profit conservation group Sea Stewards said inside a Facebook post that it was “saddened” to hear diver reports on the deceased sharks.
It said that various divers counted regarding eight dead blacktip sharks, all from around the same area – Hantu Jetty – at a depth of 10 to 11m.
Photos posted on its Facebook page showed the dead sharks with their gills ripped or disposed.
Addressing CNA’s queries, a Marine Stewards spokesperson said that according to the diver’s accounts, all the sharks had damage to their own gill areas.
“This has been caused if they had been caught in an internet. The gill region is more fragile and may have been injured within their struggle.
“We are not absolutely sure at this stage and perhaps a post-mortem may be able to reveal more answers, ” stated the spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that gill nets are “generally an indiscriminate killer” and catch anything that passes through.
“There have been cases recently of turtles plus blacktip sharks getting caught in them. inch
CNA provides contacted National Parks Board for more information at the incident.