Below is a video (apologies for the political ad with which it begins) from a southern California ABC affiliate detailing how a “sport” fisherman caught and slaughtered an 11-foot mako shark.

The video is telling because a), it shows how beautiful the animal is alive, b) how damaging the catch-and-release process would be if this fisherman had bothered to do so, and c) how tragic it is when something so beautiful is killed for no reason other than a perverse pleasure. It took an hour before the shark could be gaffed! the “newswoman” exclaims, as if gaffing was the only logical outcome of such a pursuit.

The newswoman is an idiot. While lauding the bravery of the fisherman—what’s brave about this?—she fails to mention that makos are one of the world’s most endangered animals (not just sharks, animals). She mentions that the fisherman, whose name is Eric Downs, caught the mako using tuna for bait—meaning that he killed one endangered species in order to kill another. She cautions that attacks on humans by makos are “extremely rare,” though she’s earlier described makos as “always dangerous.” Correct answer: Makos don’t attack humans—i.e., not dangerous. She doesn’t mention, because she surely doesn’t know, that the size of this shark would indicate that it’s a female of reproductive age, which means that in killing her, you’re actually killing quite a few sharks.

But then she adds that the mako is a “pretty serious fish” that can swim 46 miles an hour and jump as much as 30 feet in the air.

What a shame she doesn’t point out that there’s no reason this serious fish, of which there aren’t a lot left, should die for the sake of human vanity.

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