WARNING: This article contains graphic content which may be unsettling for some. Read with caution.
Two Bluntnose Sixgill sharks washed up dead and heavily mutilated in Marsalforn in Gozo on Monday. Environmental NGO Nature Trust took to Facebook to share graphic images of the sharks, urging the Environment & Resources Authority to consider the legal protection of such species.
Two divers reportedly discovered the sharks, initially mistaking them for dead turtles. The sharks bodies were seen to be cut off, leaving only the head and some organs. The particular breed of sharks is not protected in Maltese waters and is quite a rare sighting for Malta.
In their post, Nature Trust went on to urge the ERA to “monitor exotic species, to try to resolve the ongoing and overdue issue of unwanted pets as these often end up cruelly abandoned in the countryside or the sea, resulting in agonizing slow deaths.” They closed their statement by urging the public to be responsible when adopting exotic pets and if personal situations change, efforts must be done to transfer the pets to a safe home.
What do you make of this?
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