Friday, May 1, 2009

"Megamouth" in a Red Bean Sauce

One of the most tragic media bytes of all time was the Hindenburg crash in Lakehurst, New Jersey, 1937. The reporter on site all but dissolved live, on nationwide radio, crying out "Oh, the humanity!"

You kind of get that same feeling when an extremely rare and valuable Megamouth shark was recently caught...and then carved up and eaten by fishermen from a town in the Philippines. The environmental conservation group WWF reported this unusual "Gastronomic Hindenburg Event" this month.

So rare are Megamouth shark sightings that each find is given a number -- this one, caught by fishermen from the coastal town of Donsol (also known for whale shark tourism), was only the 41st ever seen or captured in the world.



Elson Aca, a Donsol WWF representative, said this rarest of sharks was butchered and its meat sauteed in coconut milk as a local delicacy, against the organization's advice. Turns out these sharks are just plain tasty.

Since we do not have video of the tragic shark feeding event please review the following video from 1937. "Oh, the humanity indeed!"

7 comments:

DaShark said...

Heureka!
For once, we're not on the same page! Mark this down in yer calendar!

The question is: what was the alternative, right then, right there, to eating that Shark?
Do we know?

Read http://fijisharkdiving.blogspot.com/2009/04/conservation-filipino-style.html and you'll see where I'm coming from.

As to the red bean sauce: sloppy research my friend (:

Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...

Yes this is a unique day indeed. As for an alternative, I do know the local folks from WWF did try and save the animal for study.

As for the red bean sauce? Yer right it was a green coconut curry!

Anna said...

I read that the WWF wanted the remains to be buried after the relevant information had been recorded. Frankly, once the creature is dead, I would rather see it eaten than left in the ground to rot. If an animal is killed there is a moral imperative to utilise the remains as fully and effectively as possible - if that means feeding a village, so be it.

WhySharksMatter said...

I was under the impression that the shark was already dead at the time the people ate it. Is that incorrect?

If that's the case, I see no issue with the people eating it.

Killing a rare shark to eat it- bad.

Eating a rare shark that's already dead- not really a big deal.

Unknown said...

Should have retitled this blog post

"Science vs Hunger"

steven said...

Wait, hold it right there!

Seriously why was this animal eaten? Could not the WWF come up with the requisite $100 (a fortune to fishermen) for this animal?

Food for thought. The failure here is not the fishermen who ate this animal it was the on site NGO who did not have the funds to stop the meal and add to science.

DaShark said...

Agree completely!

the Shark was dead, most tissue samples could have been taken right then & there and if they really wanted the carcass, they should have offered to purchase it!