A fisherman in China was spotted transporting a huge 16-foot-long whale shark to a market, despite the fact that whale sharks are protected in China.
Cai Chengzhu, 48, says the whale shark accidently got caught in his fishing net, so he loaded it up on his truck and drove the beast 10 miles to Shishi where he planned to sell it. He says he didn't know it was a whale shark and that it died on the way to the market.
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'I asked the fish market officials that monitor this sort of thing, and they said that as it was already dead when we caught it and as it was there we may as well sell it.'
Regulations in the country state if a whale shark is caught, they must immediately be set free. The creatures can live up to 100 years.
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