Dead Sharks Litter the Shores of Gansbaai

On Tuesday the 5th March at 9 am, Anthony Fouche of Gansbaai documented the carcasses of eight large bronze whaler sharks at Die Plaat, Gansbaai. The Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) / Marine Dynamics team were notified in the late afternoon and made their way down to the site to collect them. The bronze whaler poses no threat to humans and are one of the many stars of the sardine run. On arrival, the team found three of the eight dead sharks. It is assumed that the rest were taken away to be sold, as the bronze whaler is a commercially fished species. Fishing matters are often complicated and the bronze whalers are in fact a commercially fished species (sadly) but this was a case of bycatch that was discarded. Even though bronze whalers are generally regarded as low value there is a market for both their meat and fins for export in South Africa. All Images: Hennie Otto, Marine Dynamics/ Dyer Island Conservation Trust ©   Video Footage by Anthony Fouche Of the three shark carcasses left on the beach, the DICT team were able to confirm that all were reproductively mature, measuring around 3 meters each. One was a […]

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