The Big Fish That Got Away… (It Was Let Go)

Nov. 13, 2013 — It's not every day that fishermen catch the world's largest fish species in their nets, but this is what recently happened in Indonesia's Karimunjawa National Park, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

While catching anchovies and small bait fish in a stationary net off the coast of Java on October 8th, a group of fishers discovered a much larger animal in their lift net -- a juvenile whale shark measuring four meters in length (more than 13 feet). The fishers were then able to quickly alert staff members from the Karimunjawa National Park Authority and WCS using a text message system first established for reporting fishing violations.

"Whale sharks have not been common in these waters over the past decade, so the appearance of this animal in a coastal net is a surprise," said Stuart Campbell of WCS's Marine Program. "Fortunately, the SMS (Short Message Service) set up to report fishery violations enabled rangers from the national park service and WCS to respond to this accidental incident fast enough to release the animal."
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