"Thousands of Sharks Found on Boat in Huge Illegal Haul"

"The confiscation of the Chinese ship and arrest of its 20 crew in the Galápagos show just how hard it is to protect marine sanctuaries."

"On Sunday marine ecologist Pelayo Salinas was on his way back from a 12-day research mission on a Galápagos National Park patrol ship when at 6 a.m. the captain spotted a vessel on the radar. Access to these waters is restricted, so they radioed the vessel to find out what it was up to.

No response. Salinas and a Ecuadorian Navy officer who was on board tried again. Still no response. They warned the vessel that the law requires them to respond. Silence.

Then Salinas and three others jumped in a 13-foot inflatable boat that had been donated to the park and took chase. They’d identified the vessel as Chinese and strongly suspected it was involved in illegal fishing."

Rachael Bale reports for National Geographic August 15, 2017.