By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent
SHARKS feasting on a man’s body in the waters 10 kilometers off Molugan, El Salvador city in Misamis Oriental is an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence. But government officials and marine life experts have nothing but the account of a group of men who claimed to have witnessed what the sea predators did to a dead prey. It’s basically their word or the secondhand accounts of alleged witnesses against scientific studies that show humans are not really in the menu of sharks although people can get attacked or bitten by the marine carnivorous fishes at times.
“Sharks are on top of the (marine) food chain (but) sharks don’t eat humans,” said marine biologist and capitol consultant for the environment Josefino Bascug.
Bascug has expressed doubts over reports that the sharks devoured a floating corpse. Meanwhile, the state-owned Philippine News Agency yesterday quoted an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as bewailing reports of sharks scavenging in Misamis Oriental’s waters. The PNA report quoted Teodoro Bacolod, BFAR provincial fisheries officer, as reiterating what Dr. Bascug said: “Sharks do not eat humans.”
Taken as gospel truth, the tale of the sharks had consequences especially on Misamis Oriental tourism. The alleged scavenging by sharks caused people to panic that even local officials in neighboring Opol town reportedly met with owners of beach resorts to put in place security measures.
But Bacolod said it was possible for sharks to behave differently especially when they are “starving”. Macajalar Bay however has a “healthy marine environment,” said Dr. Bascug. “Actually, the presence of sharks at Macajalar Bay is an indicator of a healthy ocean.”
Bascug said the deep part of Macajalar Bay at the edge of a reef adjacent to El Salvador city is home to sharks. Bascug said, “Sharks (do) not normally attack humans unless they are hungry or their territory is threatened.”
On Wednesday, Joel Caballa, head of a Bantay Dagat group in Molugan told local radio that they were sorry for their failure to retrieve the body which they allegedly saw some 10 kilometers off the coast of Molugan on Tuesday morning.
“We were afraid because the sharks, which circled and feasted on the cadaver, (could) attack our boat,” Caballa said. He claimed that the body appeared to be that of a 30- to 40-year old male who was bald and had a dark complexion. Caballa said the sharks took turns in devouring the body until there was nothing left.
Bacolod said the BFAR would be investigating the “very rare incident” which, if validated, could be the first documented case of sharks feeding on a corpse and behaving like crocodiles.
He said BFAR was also looking into claims that sharks were sighted in the waters off Opol, near the town’s fish landing area.
Bacolod said the reports BFAR received was that the sharks allegedly sighted in Opol and El Salvador were about four meters and weighed 60 kilos to 80 kilos each.
Dr. Bascug said it did not come as a surprise to him if there were shark sightings because “this is shark season”. He said there have been shark sightings, too, at the Agutayan Reef in the waters off Jasaan town.
Bacolod said a recent study pointed to “global warming” as a reason for shark migrating resulting from the depletion of marine resources and sudden change of temperature.
As for the man whose remains were allegedly eaten by sharks, Bascug said, “We don’t have an idea what the victim was doing there, and who he (was).”
No official could confirm the story of Caballa and his group, and there has been no clear government effort to validate the claim at presstime.
Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano opined that it was possible for sharks to feast on human remains because that would be “carcass” to them.
Asked how this would impact on the capitol’s tourism program, and what he intends to do to protect people, Emano said there was nothing he can do because “it’s nature.”
“Amping gyud kay sa climate change, erratic ang behavior sa animals,” Emano said. (with reports from pna)
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