Huge 'Ghost Net' Of Trapped Sharks Found In Cayman Islands

The perilous state of the world's oceans has come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with a spate of videos doing the rounds on social media that show the devastation being wreaked by plastic.

The detritus of modern life isn't the only threat to underwater wildlife, however, as shocking images captured in the Caribbean have proved.

Domenick Martin-Mayes, a fisherman and diving instructor from the Cayman Islands, was diving off the picturesque island when he came across a discarded fishing net that had trapped hundreds of fish and created what he described as a 'solid net of dead, decomposing fish and sharks'.

Dominick Martin-Mayes and Pierre Lesieur

"At first we thought it was a log, but as we got closer we could see it was a net with floats," he said.

"I jumped in the water first and was shocked at what I saw. It took my breath away - the first thing I saw was the juvenile oceanic whitetip [shark].

"I got my buddy who was with me to grab a knife and jump in. We did what we could to free some of the trapped life but most of it was already dead."

The local government in the Cayman Islands immediately issued an alert and began a search for the net, in the hope that they could locate it and free some of the trapped wildlife.

Martin-Mayes estimated that it could have travelled up to a hundred miles from where he first encountered it, close to the main island of Grand Cayman.

Google Maps.

"If we can locate it, we can assess whether we can recover it or tow it somewhere to secure it until it can be dealt with safely," said Tim Austin, deputy director of the Department of Environment in the Cayman Islands.

"We don't want it to end up in the reef and we need to stop its deadly ghost fishing."

Martin-Mayes, who is originally from Hampshire, said that the so-called 'ghost net' was 50 feet square and the same distance deep.

"The net's sole purpose in life is to kill - you get your hand wrapped in it and you drown," he said of the net. Along with fish trapped in the net, he also found buckets, bottles, a tree and a long cable that was 'disappearing into the depths'.

"The more that get caught, the more that come in to eat it and get caught themselves," he said of the fish.

The net was too heavy to pull back towards land, and he rated the chances of the authorities finding it as 'highly unlikely'.

Topics: fishing, shark

Mike Wood

Mike Meehall Wood is a freelance journalist and translator. He writes for LADbible, VICE and countless sports publications, focusing on rugby league, football and boxing. He is a graduate of Leeds University and maintains a fizzy pop obsession. Contact Mike at [email protected]