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By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

FISHERMEN and members of the Bantay Dagat on Monday claimed that they saw sharks devour a corpse in the waters off El Salvador city in Misamis Oriental just before they could tie a rope around the body so they could bring it to the shore.

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The story sounded like something urban legends are made of but Joel Caballa, a member of El Salvador’s Bantay Dagat, swore he saw with his own two eyes at least three sharks feasting on the corpse some 10 kilometers off Barangay Molugan, El Salvador City, at around 11 am on Tuesday.

“Gika-on sa tulo ka mga iho,” said Caballa. “Tulo ka dagkong iho ang nagtabang pagtukob sa maong patay nga lawas.”

Sharks are not known to devour humans the way crocodiles and piranhas do although there are numerous documented cases of shark attacks.

The US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said in an article posted on its website that “despite their scary reputation, sharks rarely ever attack humans and would much rather feed on fish and marine mammals.”

According to Caballa, at least seven other Bantay Dagat members and fishermen in five boats, witnessed the “shark attack.”

Caballa and his group showed no evidence to support their assertion as they were interviewed on various occasions by reporters. According to them, there was nothing left in the sharks’ dead prey.

“Walay nabilin sa patay nga lawas sa tawo nga gitabangan ug ka-on sa tulo ka mga iho,” he said. Caballa said he and his group were about to tie a rope around the corpse of what looked like a male when the sharks came and started feasting on the flesh “hangtud nga nahurot ug wala gyoy nabilin.”

Caballa said he and other Bantay Dagat members went to the area after they received a report from fishermen that a corpse was found floating.

Caballa and his group’s story was reported by a local TV station and became the subject of radio discussion yesterday morning.

Jun Balocod, provincial fisheries officer, said the area was shark infested. He advised people to stay off the deep portions of the waters off Molugan.

Bacolod said his office received reports last week that a huge shark was sighted in the waters off Opol, Misamis Oriental while fishermen were working on their fishing nets.

According to Noaa, “Only about a dozen of the more than 300 species of sharks have been involved in attacks on humans. Sharks evolved millions of years before humans existed and therefore humans are not part of their normal diets…

“Sharks have been known to attack humans when they are confused or curious. If a shark sees a human splashing in the water, it may try to investigate, leading to an accidental attack. Still, sharks have more to fear from humans than we do of them…”

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