Big, pregnant great white shark caught off Taiwan’s north-east coast

A great white shark measuring over 4 meters long was delivered and sold at a fish market in Su’ao Township, Yilan County today, March 20, after being caught as bycatch off the northeast coast of Taiwan.

The shark weighed in at 1170 kilograms and was sold by auction at a price of NT$50 (US$1.62) per kilogram for a total of NT$58,500 (US$1,898.90).

The buyer, named as “Taiwan Ocean Art Museum” in various reports, appears to be a company engaged in marine taxidermy.

A researcher from Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center, Dr Jeng Ming-shiou said it is the biggest specimen of great white that he has ever seen.

When an incision was made in the shark’s abdomen, it was revealed that the shark was a female, and contained 14 baby sharks.

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species. It takes 26 years for a male great white to reach sexual maturity, while the female takes 33 years.

At the same time, among all shark species, the great white shark is responsible for the largest number of shark attacks on humans.

In October 2012, a great white measuring 6 meters and weighing 1750 kilograms was caught off the coast of Yilan County.

Man who purchased shark straddles his specimen, March 20, 2019. Picture: Facebook.
Fourteen fully-formed baby sharks were found inside the mother shark, March 20, 2019.

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Sources: Central News Agency, Liberty Times Network, Wikipedia.

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16 thoughts on “Big, pregnant great white shark caught off Taiwan’s north-east coast

  • March 21, 2019 at 9:12 am
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    The 14 babies should have been saved and allowed to live. These are a protected species. This is horrific treatment. Shameful and cruel.

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  • March 21, 2019 at 9:14 am
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    WTF,Crikey why didn’t they return it to the ocean ASAP!!FFS

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  • March 21, 2019 at 9:39 am
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    This is sickening. We need sharks to control the oceans in order to breathe. When you take your last breath remember her and those babies. Without the sharks the ocean ecosystem goes. What the ocean does the terrestrial word will follow. SHAME ON YOU!

    People KILL 150 MILLION sharks A YEAR. At this rate we will ALL be extinct in just 10 years!

    Shark meat is being renamed and sold to us- so next time you eat imitation crab, FLAKE, Surimi (the hotdog of the sea made of shark parts, shark, fish bycatch. ) You are probably eating her and these babies.

    Squalene/squalane comes from shark oil-

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  • March 21, 2019 at 5:16 pm
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    That’s a shame,,,

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  • March 21, 2019 at 9:10 pm
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    1 kill 15 endangered Great White dead bodies!
    Legal to be fish in Taiwan water, selling less than US$1.60 per kg.
    Fail to protect the most important predator of the marine ecosystem, Taiwan marine conservation is a total shame!

    Reply
  • March 22, 2019 at 5:00 pm
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    As much as they scare me so much I gave up my favorite release ,but that shark is horrific and the baby’s WTF .

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  • March 22, 2019 at 9:07 pm
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    This is sickening. Too tragic for words. They said it was bi-catch. Dead in the nets. What a waste of life, valued at just over a $1.5 usd per kilo. People haven’t a cluue just how valuable sharks are to the health of the marine ecosysyem. In fact you can’t even begin to put a value on them They are priceless treasures. What an absolute waste of all the lives lost in one net.
    The huge scale fishing industries world wide, have become mostly indiscriminate. For this and more tragedies, we need to make far wiser choices of what we eat and how it gets to our tables. And what is to be gained by each one of these apparently insignificant decisins but a vision of survival against extinction. What do we forfeit? A few moments of pleasure from our taste buds.
    Is it that hard to choose?

    Reply
  • March 23, 2019 at 1:20 am
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    This is ######## disgusting. Asia is the biggest sea polluter and the most guilty of overfishing and breaking many limits placed on overfished or endangered species. Shame on this country and this particular fisherman for senselessly destroying such an important part of keeping our waning oceans healthy.

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  • March 23, 2019 at 4:22 pm
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    This fisherman shamed his country in his lack of ability to recognize an immediate need to protect the life of this endangered huge white shark and the treasured babies which she carried. This is very sad to here at a time when that species is so desperately needed to help keep our oceans healthy.

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  • March 24, 2019 at 12:31 am
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    This total lack of empathy and concern by some people and countries for other animal species living on our planet is really very depressing. This magnificent animal and its young just thought of as no real value by some people ,makes me wonder what will be left for future generations to enjoy. Sharks with the fins hacked off and left to drown,Rhinos killed for a bit of horn on its nose.Elephants slaughtered to make useless ivory trinkets, magnificent tigers and Lions killed for their bones to supposedly be used as some for of medicine. All a load of f…….g nonsense. Maybe that’s the big picture when we have killed off everything else we will start on each other.happy days
    .

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  • March 26, 2019 at 12:02 am
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    If I had my way Id kill every mother###### who caught this shark and their families. To male a point. For every caught or poached animal means your life for a life.
    Assholes. Destroyers of earth.

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    • March 26, 2019 at 12:21 am
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      “To male a point.” Classic Freudian slip, and example of toxic masculinity.

      Reply
  • March 26, 2019 at 1:07 am
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    WTF!!! SCUMBAGS Like these jerkoffs need a slap upside the head for doing this! These are rare sharks when they are that size! These jerkoffs rape the oceans enough as it is! How many more are they going to kill! And which animals are next??

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  • April 26, 2019 at 2:05 pm
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    She has similar marks as Deep Blue, to kill any shark is a tragedy, to kill a legend should have been a call to action, to kill these pups may contribute to what seems like the inevitable extinction of this species, one of the key species in our current ecosystem’s survival and our own – where is the scence in that. Sad days

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  • May 16, 2019 at 5:15 pm
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    WTF!!!! This is barbaric. Taiwan, just so you know, totally not cool.

    Reply

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