November 20, 2008, DUBAI – The Environmental Protection and Industrial Authority set a whole shark free after an Emirati fisherman caught a whale shark off the coast of Ras Al Kahimah yesterday. Mohammad Ebrahim Ali Al Mazrouei, a fisherman from Al Muaireed in Ras Al Khaimah, never imagined catching a fish of this size and when he found he couldn’t reel his catch in, he called on his assistants for help. They pulled in the net to find a shark. They alerted local authorities once they reached shore, reported Gulf News.

Dr Saif Al Ghais, head of Environmental and Industrial Authority, said the young female whale shark is five-meters long. The fisherman, on the instruction of the authorities, will take the shark into the deep sea and will set it free.