Hundreds Of Deceased Sharks Found Trapped In Giant Floating 'Ghost Net'

Dec 20, 2019 by apost team

A group of divers in the Cayman Islands came across something horrible – a massive ghost net that had ensnared and killed hundreds of sharks and other sea creatures.

Dominick Martin-Mayes, 27, was with friends when they found the ghost net, which was full of dead sea animals. The fisherman and diving instructor from Hampshire, UK, later told his story to The Independent.

Martin-Mayes and his companions were on a boat when they found the net, which they initially took to be a log. After a closer look, they realized that it was a net with floats attached to it. Martin-Mayes said to The Independent, "I jumped in the water first and was shocked at what I saw. It took my breath away." He asked his dive buddy to bring a knife so he could try to cut the sharks and other creatures free. Tragically, it was too late for most of them. Worse, Martin-Mayes and his friends found that they were in danger of becoming trapped themselves.

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Martin-Mayes later commented, “The net’s sole purpose is to kill. You get your hand wrapped in it and you drown.” Martin-Mayes and his friends did try to tow the ghost net to shore, but it was too heavy for their boat. They reported their find to the Cayman Islands’ Department of the Environment, who dispatched teams to look for the net.

Accoring to Cayman Compass, Captain Charles Ebanks, a fisherman working with the DoE, found and secured the net, and the DoE towed it to Harbour House Marina. The DoE later sent the net to a landfill to be picked up by an international non-profit group called Parley for the Oceans. They plan to recycle the net.

Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been lost or abandoned. They trap sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, and other creatures. Unless they are able to work their way free, the animals eventually die. Ghost nets also smother corals when they get snagged onto them.

Ocean currents can carry ghost nets long distances, and they kill animals along the way. Some of the nets are huge; gill nets can be over two miles long. Crabs and small fish live on or near the ghost nets to feed on the trapped animals. They then get snared as do the predators that try to eat them. Many fishing nets are made of nylon, which lasts for hundreds of years. Nearly 700,000 tons of nets and other fishing gear end up in the ocean each year, reports the World Wildlife Fund.

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