Divers off Australia were horrified to find a mako shark dangling upside down while tethered to a buoy rope in the middle of the water column, its mouth agape, as if this were the end result of its struggle to breathe.
The accompanying photo was supplied as a courtesy to ABC Australia by Robbert Westerdyk, who described the scene as barbaric and "ugly to see."
He cut the rope and let the dead shark sink to the bottom. Westerdyk discovered this ghastly scene Saturday at a popular dive spot off New South Wales.
Other divers were equally horrified to witness this apparent act of cruelty.
"Someone had actually tied its tail around this marker buoy," Westerdyk said. "Someone must have done it because there was also a big slice through its mid sections."
The ABC story quoted David Powter of Newcastle University as saying, "This is such a senseless act for such a beautiful creature and it would apply if it wasn't a shark; if it wasn't a marine organism. It's just such a senseless act to take a life like that for no purpose."
Powter guessed that recreational shark anglers were responsible. New South Wales Fisheries is investigating the incident.
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