Nigel Farage criticised for posting photo of himself with hooked shark
Second time former UKIP leader has posed with distressed animal in six months
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Your support makes all the difference.Nigel Farage has been criticised for posting a photo of himself with a hooked “near threatened” shark – the second time he’s posed with such an animal in six months.
The former UKIP leader shared the image - in which he is shown standing on a beach next to the bronzed whaler shark - on Twitter.
“Happy New Year to all of my friends, supporters and listeners!” the caption read.
Only a second message posted 10 minutes later actually appeared to explain the image itself. “What a fight to land this,” the MEP wrote. “It was tagged for research purposes and put back into the water.”
Bronze whalers are listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In July, Mr Farage tweeted a similar image of him on a boat holding a tope shark, along with the caption: "Depressed over Brexit. Went fishing."
Tope sharks are listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN.
Talking about the latest image, Dominic Dyer, of the Born Free Foundation, told The Times: “Nigel Farage might be proud of his new year shark picture, but he is participating in a cruel practice that risks the future of sharks and the safety of people.
“The life and death struggle with an angler can prove fatal for sharks even when they are released. Biologists have evidence that sharks can swim away but quickly slip to the seabed and die after a long physically exhausting battle with a boat or shore angler.
“Baiting beach areas to attract sharks can also bring them into shore where could pose a potential threat to swimmers.”
Commentators on Twitter were equally unimpressed. “Unspeakable cruelty to endangered and beautiful animal,” wrote one user. “What a little man!”
Another added: “Look at those cold dead fishy eyes..... oh you know the rest.”
Mr Farage did not say where - or when - the photograph was taken but one theory is it could be Namibia, which has one of the largest populations of bronze whaler sharks and is a popular location for shore-based shark fishing.
It comes at the end of a busy month for Mr Farage who quit UKIP over its linking up with the far right extremist Tommy Robinson and spoke at a series of Leave Means Leave events.
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