Jamaican News

Conservation group says beached humpback dies in Haiti after getting slashed by fishermen

Beached Wale

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti _ A Haitian conservation group says an adult humpback whale has died in shallow waters off the country’s north coast after being wounded by fishermen.

Jean Wiener is head of the Foundation for the Protection of Marine Biodiversity. He said Tuesday the stressed whale had been repeatedly slashed by fishermen in Fort Liberte Bay. It later got stranded off a beach in Caracol after getting tangled up in net.

Conservationists, local officials and some fishermen prevented the beached whale from being killed but efforts to get it in deeper waters failed.

Wiener’s group will bury the carcass, hopefully retrieving the bones in a year for educational purposes. He says they are trying to sensitize poor people along the coast “so they don’t have to hunt these beautiful creatures.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *