I knew there were lots of gross things in skin care products. Dyes made from beetles, aluminum, parabens: these are some of the culprits I’d (sadly) expect to hear about.
But whale sharks being used to make lipstick!?
According to WildLife Risk, a group of conservationists in Hong Kong who say they’ve undertaken a three-year investigation into the operation, the endangered fish are being processed at a Zhejiang, China plant called “China Wenzhou Yueqing Marine Organisms Health Protection Foods Co Ltd.”
Agents pay the fishermen up to $30,000 USD per shark, a huge amount for a dastardly deed.
Whale sharks, despite being the biggest species of fish known to man, don’t post much danger to humans. Like the peaceful, slow-moving whale, they feed primarily on plankton and are known even to sometimes let humans hop on their back for a ride (environmentalists, however, debate whether that’s really cool or not).
The creatures’ fins are often dried and hung in restaurant windows to attract customers. Their skins are sold as leather and used to make handbags. But, most disturbing of all is what happens to the oil in the whale shark’s liver.
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