Outrage Over A Video Of Tourists Stoning A Swordfish To Death
The images are disturbing: while a swordfish is not nervous near the shore, we see several young people try to catch him while others throw stones and other objects .
The siege lasted several minutes. Shortly after the animal was found dead . Although the autopsy has not yet been performed, many blame tourists for their deaths.
The events occurred last month on a beach in Chalkida, the capital of the Greek island of Evia, and caused a wave of outrage in Greece after the video went viral.
More than 27,000 Greeks have signed a petition asking for punishment for bathers who besieged the animal, mostly tourists passing through the island. The petition has already reached the hands of the police and the animal protection authorities of the country.
"The time has come to stop the horrible tactics of animal abuse in our country. We asked for a fine for anyone who was involved ... also for the port authorities that were supposedly there and did not intervene, "the petition reads. "We know it's not a protected species, but our voice must be heard so that this kind of unacceptable mafia behavior towards any weak creature will finally stop."
According to The Independent , some of the bathers were scared to see the swordfish believing it was a shark . Others have pointed out that the animal had come so close to the shore because it was looking for a place to give birth.
The port authority of Chalkida has explained in a statement that the port staff did not realize that the animal was disoriented and that it had approached tourists accidentally.
The swordfish enjoys a good situation in the Atlantic Ocean but in the Mediterranean its situation is more delicate . In fact, in 2017 a quota was imposed for the first time on the ships of the coastal countries.
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