Gang attacks Costa Rican environmentalist investigating illegal shark-finning

[Barrett808]

Thugs on Saturday allegedly chased a biologist through a crowded market in the Pacific port of Puntarenas after he attempted to film shark fins drying at a makeshift dock.

Investigating Costa Rica’s profitable shark-fin trade appears to be an increasingly dangerous undertaking. For the second time in less than a month, unknown assailants in the fishing community of Puntarenas have attacked outside observers as they attempted to film shark fins drying at private docks.

First celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was attacked by “gangsters” and doused with gasoline as he and a film crew investigated Costa Rica’s seedy shark-fin trade for an upcoming British TV episode on Channel 4’s Big Fish Fight.

Now, biologist Jorge Ballestero, of the Marine Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA), says he barely escaped a beating after attempting to film shark fins drying on the ground in unsanitary conditions at a dock next to Puntarenas’ central market. ...

Gang attacks Costa Rican environmentalist investigating illegal shark-finning